THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 


COMMODORE  BYRON  MCCANDLESS 


LIVE  S 


OF  THE 


WITH  THE 


INCIDENTAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  STATE, 


FROM  16O9  TO  1873. 


BY 


WILLIAM    O.    AEMOE. 


NORWICH,  CONN.: 

T.    H.    DAVIS    &   CO. 

1874. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

WILLIAM  C.  ARMOR, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,   at  Washington. 


THESE  MEMOIRS 


OF  THE 


IN  THE  HOPE 
THAT  AN  EMULATION  OF  THEIE  VIRTUES  MAY  BE  INCITED, 

If 

rt  I nstrifoil 
v    ji 

BY  THE  COMPILER 

TO  THE 

YOUNG  MEN  OF  HIS  NATIVE  STATE. 

hi 


PREFACE. 


A  DEEP  interest  is  universally  manifested  in  the  personal 
history  of  any  citizen  who,  by  talent,  enterprise,  and 
virtuous  devotion  to  an  honorable  calling,  and  the  prompt'and 
willing  discharge  of  civic  and  s  jcial  duties,  acquires  extensive 
fame.  To  gratify  this  feeling,  and  thereby  perform  an  im- 
portant duty  to  all  classes,  but  particularly  to  the  young,  has 
been  the  aim  in  the  following  pages.  The  material  has  been 
collected  under  many  difficulties.  Strange  as  it  may  appear, 
biographers  and  historians  have  failed  to  give  any  adequate 
notice  of  the  lives  of  our  Governors.  This  neglect  has  been 
deeply  felt  by  the  compiler  of  this  volume.  His  researches 
have  extended  over  a  broad  field,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
those  whose  fame  is  world-wide,  only  meagre  sketches  of  a 
few  of  the  Chief  Magistrates  could  be  found.  What  at  first 
was  thought  would  be  but  the  labor  of  a  few  months  has  ex- 
tended over  a  period  of  six  years.  During  this  time,  wherever 
lineal  descendants  of  any  of  the  Governors  could  be  traced, 
they  were  applied  to  for  information  concerning  their  ances- 
tors ;  files  of  old  newspapers  have  been  scanned ;  historical  and 
biographical  work's  gleaned,  documents  in  the  archives  of  the 
State  carefully  examined,  and,  besides  the  numerous  works 
consulted,  many  facts  have  been  obtained  by  conversations 
with  aged  citizens. 

In  collecting  and  writing  these  biographies,  however,  in 
addition  to  the  duty  that  I  felt  I  was  performing  in  placing 
in  a  permanent  form  much  that  would  have  soon  passed 
into  oblivion,  I  have  experienced  a  personal  gratification  suf- 


vi  PREFACE. 

ficient  in  itself  to  compensate  for  the  time  and  labor  given 
to  the  task,  although  both  were  greater  than  any  one  who  has 
not  undertaken  a  similar  experiment  can  conceive. 

"With  the  result  of  my  researches  before  me,  I  felt  my  in- 
ability to  give  the  work  that  literary  finish  necessary  in  a  pub- 
lication of  this  kind.  In  seeking  for  some  one  to  assist  me  in 
this  all-important  labor,  my  choice  fell  upon  SAMUEL  P.  BATES, 
LL.D.,  and  member  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
who  kindly  consented  to  undertake  it.  He  brought  to  the 
task  a  ripe  experience,  as  the  author  of  the  History  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  and  numerous  educational  works, 
which,  with  his  scholarly  ability  and  judgment,  is  full  war- 
rant*that  it  has  been  finished  with  fidelity  and  success.  The 
labor  was  one  of  no  small  magnitude,  and  for  his  kind  offices 
I  here  tender  him  my  most  grateful  acknowledgments. 

The  endeavor  has  been  to  give  a  graphic  and  comprehensive 
record  of  the  public  acts  of  each  Governor,  free  from  any 
partisan  influence,  and  to  allow  each  one  to  speak  for  him- 
self through  the  history  of  his  public  career.  Joseph  R. 
Chandler  has  well  said :  "  In  all  countries  the  character  of  the 
great  and  the  good  has  been  deemed  part  of  the  public  fame ; 
and  nations  which  have  derived  political  or  pecuniary  advan- 
tage from  the  talents  and  labors  of  their  distinguished  citizens 
living,  have  put  in  a  claim  to  the  posthumous  credit  of  these 
men,  as  if  a  portion  at  least  was  to  escheat  to  the  benefit  of 
the  Commonwealth." 

In  harmony  with  this  sentiment  have  the  following  pages 
been  compiled.  A  record  of  the  lives  of  our  Governors,  free 
from  the  partisan  hate  and  the  slanderous  allusions  that  po- 
litical warfare  has  engendered,  is  here  presented.  No  fear 
of  criticism,  inspired  by  a  difference  of  political  faith,  -has 
prevented  our  speaking  of  each  individual  Governor  in  fit 
terms  of  eulogy.  We  are  proud  to  believe  that  a  nobler  list 
is  not  possessed  by  any  State  in  the  Union,  nor  one  whose 
public  acts  will  bear  closer  scrutiny. 

In  addition  to  the  biographical  sketches  of  the  Executive 
officers,  there  is  also  preserved  in  connection  therewith  a 


PREFACE.  vii 

complete  epitome  of  the  history  of  the  State  from  its  origin 
to  the  present  time.  It  is  believed  that  this  will  prove  one 
of  the  most  interesting  and  valuable  features  of  the  work. 

It  would  be  mere  pedantry  to  refer  to  all  the  sources  of 
information  that  we  have  consulted,  but  we  cannot  omit  men- 
tion of  the  following  valuable  works :  —  Colonial  Records  and 
Pennsylvania  Archives;  Hazard's  Annals  of  Pennsylvania; 
Hazard's  Register;  Mies'  Register;  Smith's  History  of  Del- 
aware County;  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia;  Proud's 
History  of  Pennsylvania;  Gordon's  History  of  Pennsylvania; 
Publications  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania; 
National  Portrait  Gallery;  Griswold's  Republican  Court; 
Creigh's  History  of  Washington  County ;  I.  D.  Rupp's  His- 
tories of  the  several  Counties  of  the  State ;  Sanderson's  and 
Goodrich's  Signers  of  the  Declaration ;  Documentary  History 
of  New  York;  Drake's  Dictionary  of  American  Biography; 
Day's  Historical  Collections  of  Pennsylvania ;  Dawson's  His- 
torical Magazine;  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States; 
Irving's  Life  of  Washington;  Lossing's  Battlefields  of  the 
Revolution,  and  Pictorial  History;  and  Westcott's  History  of 
Philadelphia,  now  being  published  in  the  Sunday  Dispatch. 

To  Dr.  William  H.  Egle,  of  Harrisburg,  the  compiler  is 
under  special  obligations  for  much  aid  in  facilitating  the  pros- 
ecution of  his  task,  and  for  the  use  of  his  valuable  historical 
library.  The  following  gentlemen,  also,  rendered  me  invalu- 
able aid  in  furnishing  data :  John  K.  Findlay,  Philadelphia ; 
Joseph  Ritner,  Mechanicsburg ;  William  A.  Porter,  Philadel- 
phia; William  Moore,  Clearfield;  James  W.  Clarke,  Wil- 
liamsport;  Alexander  K.  McClure,  Philadelphia;  Wien 
Forney,  Harrisburg ;  A.  L.  Russell,  Adjutant-General,  Har- 
risburg. 

I  am  also  indebted  for  many  friendly  offices  to  Hon.  F. 
Jordan,  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth;  Hon.  J.  P.  Wicker- 
sham,  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools ;  John  McCurdy, 
Superintendent  of  Public  Printing,  Harrisburg;  A.  Boyd 
Hamilton,  Harlisburg;  Rev.  James  Shrigley,  Librarian,  and 
John  Jordan,  Jr.,  Townsend  Ward,  and  Ferdinand  J.  Drcer, 


viu  PREFACE. 

members  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania;  Thomp- 
son Westcott,  editor  Sunday  Dispatch  of  Philadelphia;  "William 
Dorsey,  Philadelphia ;  Horace  W.  Smith,  Falls  of  Schuylkill ; 
and  J.  Smith  Futhey,  of  West  Chester.  The  warmth  with 
which  their  services  were  rendered  will  always  be  a  source 
of  pleasant  remembrance. 

W.  C.  A. 
HABEISBUKG,  September  19, 1872. 


CONTENTS. 

PART    I. 
PERIOD    OF   SETTLEMENT. 


CHAPTER   I. 
DUTCH  EULE,  1609-38. 

PASI 

CORNELIS  JACOBSEN  MET,  Director  of  New  Netherland,  1624  to  1625 21 

WILLIAM  VAN  HULST,  Director  of  New  Netherland,  1625  to  May  4, 1626 22 

PETER  MINTJIT,  Director  of  New  Netherland,  May  4,  1626,  till  the  Spring  of 

1633 22 

DAVID  PIETEEZEN  DE  VRIES,  Governor  on  the  Delaware,  December  5, 

1632,  to  April  14, 1633 23 

WOUTER  VAN  TWILLER,  Director  of  New  Netherland,  Spring  of  1633,  to 

March  28,1638 27 

CHAPTER  H. 
DUTCH  AND  SWEDISH  RULE,  1638-55. 

SIR  WILLIAM  KIEFT,  Director  of  New  Netherland,  March  28,  1638,  to  May 

27,1647 29 

PETER  MINTTIT,  Governor  of  New  Sweden,  April,  1638,  to  1641 29 

PETER  HOLLANDAER,  Governor  of  New  Sweden,  1641  to  1643 31 

JOHN  PRINTZ,  Governor  of  New  Sweden,  February  15, 1643,  to  October,  1653    32 
PETER  STUYVESANT,  Director  of  New  Netherland,  May  27,  1647,  to  Septem- 
ber 8,1664 34 

JOHN  PAPPEGOYA,  Governor  of  New  Sweden,  October,  1653,  to  May,  1654    35 
JOHN  CLAUDE  RYSINGH,  Vice-Director  of  New  Sweden,  May,  1654,  to 

September  25,  1655 36 

ix 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  in. 
DUTCH  RULE,  1655-64. 

•Ml 

PETER  STUYVESANT,  Director  of  New  Netherland,  1655  to  1664 43 

DERCK  SMIDT,  Schout-Fiscal  and  Commissary  on  the  Delaware,  1655 43 

JOHN  PAUL  JACQUET,  Director  on  the  Delaware,  1655,  to  April  20,  1657...  43 
JACOB  ALRICHS,  Director  of  City  Colony,  April,  1657,  to  December  30, 1659  44 
GCERAN  VAN  DYCK,  Director  of  Company's  Colony,  May  20,  1657,  to  Oc- 
tober 28,  1658 44 

WILLIAM  BEEKMAN,  Vice-Director  of  Company's  Colony,  October  28, 

1658,  to  December  22,  1663 45 

ALEXANDER  D'HiNOYOSSA,  Director  of  City  Colony,  December  30,  1659, 

to  October  13,  1664 47 

CHAPTER  IV. 
ENGLISH  RULE,  1664-73. 

COLONEL  RICHARD  NICHOLLS,  Governor  at  New  York,  September  8, 1664,  to 

May,  1667 50 

ROBERT  NEEDHAM,  Commander  on  the  Delaware,  1664  to  1668 52 

COLONEL  FRANCIS  LOVELACE,  Governor  at  New  York,  May,  1667,  to  August 

6,  1673 53 

CAPTAIN  JOHN  CARR,  Commander  on  the  Delaware,  1668,  to  August,  1673  53 

CHAPTER   V. 
DUTCH  RULE,  1673-74. 

ANTHONY  COLVE,  Governor  of  New  Netherland,  August  12,  1673,  to  Novem- 
ber 10,  1674 56 

PETER  ALRICHS,  Deputy  Governor  on  west  side  of  the  Delaware,  Septem- 
ber, 1673,  to  November  10,  1674 56 

CHAPTER  VI. 

ENGLISH  RULE,  1674-81. 

SIR  EDMUND  ANDROSS,  Governor  at  New  York,  November  10,  1674,  to  1681...    58 
CAPTAIN  EDMUND  CANTJVELL,  Commander  on  the  Delaware,  November 

1674,  to  September  23,  1676 •    58 

JOHN  COLLIER,  Commander  on  the  Delaware,  September  23,  1676,  to  Au- 
gust 24,  1677 59 

CHRISTOPHER  BILLOP,  Commander  on  the  Delaware,  August  24,  1677,  to 
June,  1681 59 


CONTENTS. 

PART  II. 

PROPRIETARY    GOVERNMENT. 

x 

CHAPTER  I. 
WILLIAM  PENN,  PROPRIETOR,  1681-93. 

PAQg 

WILLIAM  MARKHAM,  Deputy  Governor,  June,  1681,  to  October  24, 1682 65 

WILLIAM  PENN  (Sketch  of),  Governor,  October  24,  1682,  to  August  12, 1684...    69 

CHAPTER  H. 

PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT,  1684-93. 

THOMAS  LLOYD,  President  of  Council,  June  12,  1684,  to  December,  1686 101 

FIVE  COMMISSIONERS,  (Thomas  Lloyd,  Robert  Turner,  Arthur  Cook,  John 

Simcock,  and  John  Eckley,)  1686,  to  December,  1688 103 

CAPTAIN  JOHN  BLACKWELL,  Deputy  Governor,  December,  1688,  to  January, 

1690 104 

THOMAS  LLOYD,  President  of  Council,  January,  1690,  to  March,  1691 105 

THOMAS  LLOYD,  Deputy  Governor  of  Province,  March,  1691,  to  April,  1693....  106 
WILLIAM  MARKHAM,  Deputy  Governor  of  the  Territories,  March,  1691,  to 

April,  1693 106 

CHAPTER  HI. 

UNDER  THE   CROWN  OF  ENGLAND,  1693-95. 

BENJAMIN  FLETCHER,  Governor  of  New  York,  and  the  Province  and  Terri- 
tories of  Pennsylvania,  1693  to  1695 110 

WILLIAM  MARKHAM,  Deputy  Governor  on  the  Delaware,  April,  1693,  to 

March,  1695 110 

CHAPTER    IV. 

WILLIAM  PENN,  PROPRIETOR,  1695-1718. 

WILLIAM  MARKHAM,  Deputy  Governor,  March,  1695,  to  November,  1699 113 

WILLIAM  PENN,  Governor,  November,  1699,  to  November,  1701 115 

ANDREW  HAMILTON,  Deputy  Governor,  November,  1701,  to  April,  1703 115 

EDWARD  SHIPPEN,  President  of  Council,  April,  1703,  to  February,  1704 117 

JOHN  EVANS,  Deputy  Governor,  February,  1704,  to  February,  1709 117 

COLONEL  CHARLES  GOOKIN,  Deputy  Governor,  February,  1709,'to  May,  1717..  121 
SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH,  Deputy  Governor,  May,  1717,  to  July,  1726 125 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  Y. 
HANNAH  PENN,  EXECUTRIX  FOR  PROPRIETORS,  1718-27. 

PAOI 

SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH,  Deputy  Governor,  July,  1718,  to  July,  1726 126 

CHAPTER  VI. 
JOHN,  RICHARD,  AND  THOMAS  PENN,  PROPRIETORS,  1727-46. 

PATRICK  GORDON,  Deputy  Governor,  July,  1726,  to  August,  1736 132 

JAMES  LOGAN,  President  of  the  Council,  August,  1736,  to  August,  1738 136 

GEORGE  THOMAS,  Deputy  Governor,  August,  1738,  to  May,  1747 141 

•CHAPTER  VII. 

RICHARD  AND  THOMAS  PENN,  PROPRIETORS,  1746-71. 

ANTHONY  PALMER,  President  of  the  Council,  May,  1746,  to  November,  1748...  146 

JAMES  HAMILTON,  Deputy  Governor,  November,  1748,  to  October,  1754 148 

ROBERT  HUNTER  MORRIS,  Deputy  Governor,  October,  1754,  to  August,  1756..  155 

WILLIAM  DENNY,  Deputy  Governor,  August,  1756,  to  October,  1759 159 

JAMES  Hi  MILTON,  Deputy  Governor,  October,  1759,  to  November,  1763 165 

JOHN  PENN,  Deputy  Governor,  November,  1763,  to  1771 169 

JAMES  HAMILTON,  President  of  the  Council,  1771 177 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THOMAS  AND  JOHN  PENN,  PROPRIETORS,  1771-76. 

RlCHAfiD  PENN,  Lieutenant  Governor,  October,  1771,  to  August,  1773 178 

JOHN  PENN,  Deputy  Governor,  August,  1773,  to  July,  1776 180 


PART    III. 
PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  EXECUTIVE  COUNCIL. 

THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR.,  President  of  Council,  March  5,  1777,  to  May  23, 1778..  193 
GEORGE  BRYAN,  Acting  President  of  Council,  May  23, 1778,  to  December  1, 1778.  211 

JOSEPH  REED,  President  of  Council,  December  1,  1778,  to  October  8,  1781 216 

WILLIAM  MOORE,  President  of  Council,  November  14, 1781,  to  October  8, 1782..  231 
JOHN  DICKINSON,  President  of  Council,  November  7, 1782,  to  October  18, 1785..  234 
BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  President  of  Council,  October  18,  1785,  to  October  14, 

1788 251 


CONTENTS. 

PART    IV. 
GOVERNORS  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

PAOI 

THOMAS  MIFFLIN,  President  of  Council,  November  5,  1788,  to  December  20, 
1790,  and  Governor  under  the  Constitution  of  1790  from  December  21, 

1790,  to  December  17,  1799 273 

THOMAS  McKEAN,  Governor,  December  17,  1799,  to  December  20,  1808 289 

SIMON  SNYDER,  Governor,  December  20,  1808,  to  December  16,  1817 ....  308 

WILLIAM  FINDLAY,  Governor,  December  16,  1817,  to  December  19,  1820..... 323 

JOSEPH  HIESTEK,  Governor,  December  19,  1820,  to  December  16,  1823 333 

JOHN  ANDREW  SHULZE,  Governor,  December  16,  1823,  to  December  15,  1829..  343 

GEORGE  WOLF,  Governor,  December  15,  1829,  to  December  15,  1835 350 

JOSEPH  RITNER,  Governor,  December  15,  1835,  to  January  15,  1839 361 


PART     V. 
GOVERNORS  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

DAVID  RITTENHOUSE  PORTER,  Governor,  January  15, 1839,  to  January  21, 1845.  379 

FRANCIS  EAWN  SHUNK,  Governor,  January  21,  1845,  to  July  9,  1848 392 

WILLIAM  FREAME  JOHNSTON,  Governor,  July  9,  1848,  to  January  20,  1852...  403 

WILLIAM  BIGLER,  Governor,  January  20,  1852,  to  January  16,  1855 413 

JAMES  POLLOCK,  Governor,  January  16,  1855,  to  January  19,  1858 424 

WILLIAM  J  ISHER  PACKER,  Governor,  January  19,  1858,  to  January  15,  1861..  433 
ANDREW  GREGG  CURTIN,  Governor,  January  15,  1861,  to  January  15,  1867....  450 

JOHN  WHITE  GEARY,  Governor,  January  15,  1867,  to  January  21,  1873 466 

JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT,  Governor,  January  21, 1873 491 


PART   I. 

PERIOD  OF  SETTLEMENT. 


15 


OF  THE 


GOVERNOES  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DUTCH   RULE  —  1609  TO   1638. 


has  in  all  ages  been  influenced  by  river- 
v  courses,  safe  bays  and  harbors,  mountain  passes,  and 
favorable  routes  of  travel.  Settlement  in  America  strictly 
conformed  to  this  law.  The  Pilgrims  gathered  about  Boston 
harbor  and  the  mouth  of  Charles  River.  The  Dutch  sought 
that  great  navigable  stream,  the  Hudson,  and  that  magnifi- 
cent harbor  at  its  mouth,  where  the  combined  navies  of  the 
world  may  ride  in  safety.  The  Cavaliers,  who  followed 
Smith  to  Virginia,  chose  the  Chesapeake  and  the  James. 
Pennsylvania,  though  an  inland  State,  formed  no  exception 
to  this  rule.  The  only  navigable  stream  within  its  borders 
which  communicates  directly  with  the  ocean,  attracted  the 
eye  of  the  early  explorer,  and  on  its  course  were  the  first 
feeble  attempts  at  colonization,  and  the  eventual  settlements 
which  marked  the  foundation  of  a  state,  the  beginnings  of 
empire. 

In  1614,  five  years  after  the  discovery  of  the  Island  and 

Bay  of  New  York  by  Hendrick  Hudson,  three  Europeans, 

wandering    up   the    Mohawk    Valley   from   the  fort    near 

Albany,  where  a  feeble  foothold  had  been  gained,  wended 

2  17 


18  DUTCH  RULE. 

their  way  southward  across  the  dividing  ridge  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Delaware,  and  followed  down  its  course.  As 
they  moved  on  they  soon  entered  the  territory  of  what  is 
now  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  then  for  the  first  time  its 
soil  was  pressed  by  the  foot  of  the  white  man. 

Hudson,  a  navigator  formerly  in  the  service  of  the  Eng- 
lish, but  who  had  entered  the  employ  of  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company,  sailed  on  the  4th  of  April,  1609,  in  the  Half 
Moon,  an  insignificant  craft,  in  search  of  a  western  passage 
to  the  Indies.  Foiled  in  his  attempt  to  find  a  way  at  the 
north  of  the  continent,  he  turned  southward,  and,  watching 
carefully  the  coast  as  he  went,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1609, 
discovered,  in  latitude  thirty-nine  degrees  and  five  minutes 
north,  a  great  bay,  which  he  cautiously  entered.  To  this  bay 
the  name  of  Delaware  was  subsequently  given,  in  honor  of 
Lord  De-la- War,  of  the  Virginia  colony,  who  visited  it  a  year 
afterwards  and  laid  claim  to  its  discovery.  Hudson  moved 
slowly  up  the  bay,  examining  the  coast  on  either  shore, 
now  Delaware  and  New  Jersey,  but  soon  returned,  and  pro- 
ceeding northward,  on  the  4th  of  September  discovered  the 
Bay  of  New  York,  and  the  great  river  of  the  north  which 
bears  his  name. 

The  right  of  the  Dutch  to  the  Delaware  and  the  lands 
adjacent  thereto  was  founded  on  this  visit  of  Hudson  to  its 
waters,  constituting  priority  of  discovery,  which  was  recog- 
nized by  European  nations  as  a  sufficient. guarantee  for  its 
possession.  Though  having  at  various  periods  different  desig- 
nations, it  was  at  first  chiefly  known  as  the  South  River,  in 
distinction  from  the  Hudson,  which  was  then  known  as  the 
North  River,  these  being  the  only  great  rivers  in  the  territory 
claimed  by  the  Dutch.  It  was  called  by  the  Indians  Pau- 
taxat,  Mariskitton,  and  Makerish-kisken ;  by  the  Dutch, 
Zuyt  or  South,  Nassau,  Prince  Hendrick,  and  Charles;  by 
the  Swedes,  New  Swedeland  Stream;  and  by  the  English, 
the  Delaware.  The  bay  was  also  known  as  New  Port  Mey 
and  Godyn's  Bay. 

Hudson,  having  returned  to  Holland  and  reported  his  dis- 


DUTCH  RULE,  19 

coveries,  the  States  General,  on  the  27th  of  March,  1614, 
granted  a  general  charter,  securing  the  privilege  of  trade 
during  four  voyages,  to  parties  accepting  its  provisions,  in 
any  of  its  possessions  in  the  New  World,  The  merchants  of 
the  cities  of  Amsterdam  and  Hoorn,  accordingly,  fitted  out 
five  vessels  to  sail  under  this  charter.  One  of  these,  the  For- 
tune, belonging  to  the  city  of  Hoorn,  commanded  by  Cor- 
nelis  Jacobsen  Mey,  upon  its  arrival  on  the  American  coast, 
at  once  proceeded  south,  its  commander  examining  and  map- 
ping the  shore  as  he  went,  until  he  reached  Delaware  Bay. 
To  the  two  capes  at  its  mouth  he  gave  two  of  his  own 
names,  calling  the  one  on  the  north  Mey,  and  that  on  the 
south  Cornelis.  To  a  cape  still  further  to  the  south  he  gave 
the  name  Hindloperi,  after  a  town  in  Friesland.  Another 
of  these  vessels,  commanded  by  Adrian  Block,  was,  unfor- 
tunately, burned  upon  its  arrival  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson, 
and  to  repair  the  loss,  Block  immediately  set  about  building 
another,  the  new  craft  when  completed  being  of  sixteen  tons 
burden,  and  called  the  Unrest,  the  first  vessel  ever  built  in 
American  waters.  After  exchanging  their  cargoes  for  furs 
and  skins,  and  gathering  many  articles  curious  and  interesting, 
the  vessels  all  returned  to  Holland,  except  the  American-built 
one,  which  was  left  under  the  command  of  Cornelis  Hen- 
drickson. 

On  hearing  the  report  of  the  voyagers,  the  States  General 
passed  an  edict,  dated  October  14th,  1614,  granting  exclusive 
privileges  of  trade  in  its  New  World  possessions,  to  extend 
to  four  voyages  through  a  period  of  three  years  from  January 
1st,  1615,  to  the  Company  of  Merchants  of  Amsterdam  and 
Hoorn,  by  which  the  first  expedition  had  been  dispatched. 
In  this  edict  the  Dutch  possessions  in  the  New  World  were 
designated  NEW  NETHERLANDS. 

In  the  meantime  Hendrickson,  who  had  been  left  behind, 
proceeded  to  explore  the  sea-coast,  and  bay  and  river  of  Dela- 
ware, where,  to  his  surprise,  he  met  the  three  white  men  who 
had  wandered  off  from  the  fort  on  the  upper  Hudson,  and 
were  making  their  way,  from  the  head- waters  of  the  Delaware 


20  DUTCH  RULE. 

through  the  dense  forests  that  fringed  its  banks,  towards  the 
coast.  On  the  19th  of  August,  1616,  a  report  of  Hendrick- 
son's  discoveries  was  read  to  the  States  General,  which  was 
in  these  words :  "He  hath  discovered  for  his  aforesaid  masters 
and  directors  certain  lands,  a  bay,  and  three  rivers,  situate 
between  thirty-eight  and  forty  degrees,  and  did  there  trade 
with  the  inhabitants,  said  trade  consisting  of  sables,  furs, 
robes,  and  other  skins.  He  hath  found  the  said  country  full 
of  trees,  to  wit :  oaks,  hickory,  and  pines,  which  trees  were, 
in  some  places,  covered  with  vines.  He  hath  seen,  in  said 
country,  bucks  and  does,  turkeys  and  partridges.  He  hath 
found  the  climate  of  said  country  very  temperate,  judging  it 
to  be  as  temperate  as  this  country,  Holland.  He  also  traded 
for,  and  bought  from  the  inhabitants,  the  Minquas,  three  per- 
sons, being  people  belonging  to  this  Company,  which  three 
persons  were  employed  in  the  service  of  the  Mohawks  and 
Machicans,  giving  for  them  kettles,  beads,  and  merchandise." 

Hendrickson  demanded  the  exclusive  privilege  of  trade 
in  the  territory  which  he  had  explored,  and  which  he  claimed 
to  have  discovered,  in  compliance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
general  edict;  but  his  demand  was  denied.  In  January, 
1618,  the  general  edict  expired  by  its  own  limitation.  The 
establishment  of  a  great  West  India  Company,  in  imitation 
of  the  East  India  Company,  was  now  in  contemplation,  and 
all  applications  for  exclusive  privileges  were  held  in  abeyance 
by  the  States  General,  though  several  private  expeditions 
were  undertaken. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  1621,  the  Dutch  "West  India  Company 
was  incorporated,  to  continue  for  a  period  of  twenty-four 
years,  with  a  pledge  of  renewal  of  its  charter  at  the  expira- 
tion of  that  time.  Subscription  to  its  stock  was  open  to  all 
nations.  It  was  divided  into  five  branches,  that  in  Amster- 
dam representing  four-ninths  of  the  whole,  and  its  govern- 
ment was  intrusted  to  a  board  of  nineteen,  of  whom  eighteen 
represented  the  five  branches,  and  one  was  named  by  the 
States  General.  It  was  privileged  to  trade  and  plant  colonies 
in  Africa,  from  the  tropic  of  Cancer  to  the  Cape  of  Good 


CORNELIS  JACOB  SEN  MEY.  21 

LEope,  and  in  America,  from  the  Straits  of  Magellan  to  the 
remotest  north. 

CORNELIS  JACOBSEN  MEY,  1624-5.  —  Under  this 
charter  an  organization  was  effected  in  1623,  and  vigorous 
efforts  at  colonization  were  made.  In  that  year  the  ship 
New  Netherlands,  carrying  about  forty  families,  chiefly  Wal- 
loons, —  Protestant  fugitives  from  Belgian  provinces,  —  was 
dispatched  to  America  under  the  direction  of  Cornelia  Jacob- 
sen  Mey  and  Joriz  Tienpont.  Hitherto  the  sole  object  of  the 
Dutch  in  acquiring  territory  in  the  New  "World  had  been  to 
secure  a  lucrative  trade ;  and  even  now  the  purpose  of  colo- 
nization seems  to  have  had  no  higher  motive  tliftn  the  hold- 
ing of  the  territory  securely  against  the  encroachments  of 
the  English  in  Virginia  and  New  England. 

By  the  terms  of  the  Company's  organization,  the  chief 
power  throughout  all  the  New  Netherlands  territory  was 
vested  in  a  Director.  The  first  person  to  exercise  this 
power  was  CORNELIS  JACOBSEN  MEY.  Attracted,  doubtless, 
by  the  roseate  reports  of  the  country  on  the  Delaware,  Mey, 
soon  after  his  arrival  at  Manhattan, — now  the  site  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  where  the  seat  of  government  of  all  New 
Netherlands  had  been  established,  —  proceeded  thither,  and 
ascending  the  stream  about  forty-five  miles,  debarked  upon  a 
tongue  of  land  between  Big  and  Little  Timber  creeks,  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  near  the  site  of  the  present  town 
of  Gloucester,  where  he  built  a  fort,  which  he  called  Nassau, 
and  thus  secured  a  first  foothold  upon  the  soil.  He  was 
accompanied  in  this  enterprise  by  several  men  with  their 
wives,  and  evidently  intended  to  effect  a  permanent  settle- 
ment. The  following  testimony  of  Catelina  Tricho,  given  in 
1684,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  affords  curious  confirmation  of 
this  intention : 

"  That  she  came  to  this  Province  either  in  the  yeare  one 
thousand  six  hundred  and  twenty-three  or  twenty-fouer,  to  the 
best  of  her  remembrance,  an  that  fouer  women  came  along 
with  her  iu  the  same  shipp,  in  which  the  Governor,  Arien 


22  DUTCH  RULE. 

Jorissen  came  also  over,  which  fouer  women  were  married 
at  sea,  and  this  they  and  their  husbands  stayed  about  three 
weeks  at  this  place,  and  then  they,  with  eight  seamen  more, 
went  in  a  vessel  by  orders  of  the  Dutch  Governor,  to  Dela- 
ware River,  and  there  settled.  This  I  certifie  under  my  hand 
and  ye  seale  of  this  Province.  THO.  DONGAN." 

It  was  soon  found  impracticable  to  support  and  protect  this 
feeble  colony,  and  the  fort  was  abandoned  after  a  few  months, 
the  settlers  returning  to  Manhattan.  Communication,  how- 
ever, was  kept  up  with  the  natives  in  the  locality  of  the  fort, 
by  sending  a  vessel  thither  for  purposes  of  trade.  This  weak 
attempt  at  settlement,  thus  speedily  abandoned,  has  little 
importance  in  itself,  but  possesses  a  marked  significance  as 
being  the  germ  of  future  commonwealths  upon  the  Delaware. 

WILLIAM  VAN  HULST,  1625-6.  — In  the  ^spring  of 
1625,  came  two  ship-loads  of  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  and  swine, 
and  Mey  was  succeeded  in  the  Directorship  by  William  Yan 
Hulst.  "  Just  then/'  says  Bancroft,  "  Jean  de  Laet,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Chamber  of  Amsterdam,  in  an  elaborate  work  on 
the  West  Indies,  opportunely  drew  the  attention  of  his  coun- 
trymen to  their  rising  colony,  and  published  Hudson's  own 
glowing  description  of  the  land." 

PETER  MINUIT,  1626-33.— In  1626,  the  West  India  Com- 
pany  bei.ig  determined  to  establish  more  firmly  its  authority 
in  the  Now  World,  ordained  a  more  formal  government  with 
enlarged  powers.  The  Director  was  assisted  by  a  council 
of  five,  and  a  Schout  Fiscal,  an  oflicer  who  combined  the 
duties  of  Sheriff  and  District  Attorney.  Peter  Minuit,  of 
Wesel,  in  the  kingdom  of  Westphalia,  was  vested  with  the 
power  of  Director,  and  by  him  a  vast  tract  of 'land,  embracing 
all  the  southern  part  of  the  Island  of  Manhattan,  twenty-two 
thousand  acres  in  extent,  now  the  most  thickly  peopled  part 
of  the  city  of  New  York,  was  purchased  of  the  natives  for 
the  sum  of  sixty  gilders,  equivalent  to  twenty-four  dollars. 
During  the  administration  of  Minuit,  which  lasted  until  1633, 


DAVID  PIETERZEN  DE  VRIES.  23 

little  is  recorded  of  note  beyond  the  regular  course  of  trade, 
which  was  considerable.  The  ship  that  bore  the  news  of  the 
purchase  of  Manhattan  to  Holland  was  freighted  with  seven 
thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-six  beaver-skins,  eight  hun- 
dred fifty-three  and  a  half  otter-skins,  eighty-one  mink-skins, 
thirty-six  wild-cat  skins,  and  thirty-four  rat-skins,  with  a 
quantity  of  oak  and  hickory  timber.  A  due  proportion  of 
this  trade  came  from  the  Delaware,  and  though  no  fixed 
habitations  had  yet  been  established  there,  ships  regularly 
plied  between  its  waters  and  the  Hudson. 

DAVID  PIETERZEN  DE  VRIES,  1632-3.  — In  1629,  a 
charter  of  privileges  to  patroons,  a  sort  of  feudal  lords,  was 
granted  by  the  West  India  Company.  Any  one  who  should 
plant  a  colony  of  fifty  souls  became  the  ruler  and  the  abso- 
lute possessor  of  lands  sixteen  miles  in  length,  if  on  one 
bank  of  a  stream,  and  if  on  both,  half  that  distance,  and 
extending  "  so  far  into  the  country  as  the  situation  of  the 
occupiers  would  permit."  In  the  same  year,  Samuel  Goodyn 
and  Samuel  Bloernaert  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  of  the 
natives  at  the  mouth  of  Delaware  Bay,  embracing  the  shore- 
liue  of  what  became  the  two  northern  colonies  of  Delavraiu, 
which  purchase  was  confirmed  in  presence  of  the  savage  chief- 
tains, by  the  Director,  Minuit,  and  his  Council,  at  Manhattan. 
As  soon  as  the  above  recited  charter  of  privileges  was  enacted, 
Goodyn  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  occupy  his  purchases 
as  Patroon.  Goodyn  and  Bloemaert  were  joined  by  David 
Pietcrzen  De  Vries,  "  a  bold  and  skilful  seaman,"  and  subse- 
quently by  six  others,  all  members  of  the  West  India  Com- 
pany, and  on  the  12th  of  December,  1630,  two  vessels,  with  a 
number  of  people  and  a  large  stock  of  cattle,  were  dispatched 
by  De  Vries  under  the  command  of  Peter  Heyes,  to  occupy 
the  new  possessions  upon  the  Delaware.  The  smaller  of 
these  vessels  was  captured,  before  leaving  the  Dutch  waters, 
by  Dunkirk  privateers.  The  other,  the  Walrus,  of  eighteen 
guns,  proceeded  on  its  course,  and  arriving  in  the  Delaware, 
a  settlement  was  made  on  Lewes  Creek,  a  short  distance  from 


24  DUTCH  RULE. 

its  mouth, : — its  commander  calling  his  little  fort,  which,  was 
well  beset  with  palisades,  Fort  Optlandt,  and  the  lands  by  the 
poetic  name  of  Swanendael  (Valley  of  Swans). 

The  chief  purpose  in  acquiring  possession  of  the  soil  and 
effecting  a  settlement  here,  was  to  cultivate  grain  and  tobacco, 
and,  in  connection  therewith,  to  carry  on  the  whale-fishery 
along  the  coast,  it  appearing  from  various  reports  that 
during  the  winter  season  whales  frequented  these  waters 
in  great  numbers.  It  was  one  of  the  arguments  which 
Goodyn  had  used  with  De  Vries  to  induce  him  to  embark  in 
the  enterprise,  that  the  whale-fishery  could  be  readily  estab- 
lished, and  that  the  oil,  at  sixty  gilders  a  hogshead,  would 
yield  a  good  profit.  Heyes  was  accompanied  on  this  voyage 
by  Gillis  Hosset,  as  commissary  of  the  ship,  and  on  the  5th 
of  May,  1631,  they  together  purchased  of  the  Indians,  in 
behalf  of  the  Company  which  they  represented,  a  tract  of 
land  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  bay,  sixteen  English  miles 
square,  having  nearly  an  equal  shore  and  bay  coast  line, 
which  purchase  was  confirmed  at  Manhattan  on  the  3d  of 
June.  Heyes  did  nothing  by  way  of  prosecuting  the  whale- 
fishery,  though  he  secured  a  specimen  of  oil  from  a  dead 
whale  which  he  found  on  the  shore,  and  leaving  Hosset  in 
charge  of  the  little  colony,  which  consisted  of  but  thirty-two 
men,  he  returned  to  Holland,  arriving  on  the  31st  of  Sep- 
tember. 

The  result  of  this  enterprise  was  anything  but  satisfactory, 
the  stockholders  having  anticipated  great  profits  from  the 
prosecution  of  the  whale-fishery.  It  was  accordingly  d^ter- 
mined  to  fit  out  another  expedition,  and  that  De  Vries  should 
go  in  person  as  commander  of  the  vessels  and  Patroon  of  the 
colony.  Having  been  supplied  with  a  large  vessel  and  a 
yacht,  De  Vries  set  sail  on  the  24th  of  May,  1632.  At  the 
moment  of  starting  he  received  the  mournful  and  dishearten- 
ing intelligence  of  the  massacre  by  the  savages  of  the  settlers 
who  had  been  left  at  Swanendael,  and  the  destruction  of  all 
their  possessions.  It  was  not  until  the  5th  of  December  that 
he  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware,  where  the  cry  of  "  a 


DAVID  PIETERZEN DE  VRIES.  25 

whale  near  the  ship"  was  well  calculated  to  stimulate  the 
cupidity  of  the  commander,  and  suggest  "  royal  work  —  the 
whales  so  numerous,  and  the  land  so  fine  for  cultivation." 
But  the  site  of  the  former  settlement,  which  was  visited  on 
the  following  day,  displayed  a  mournful  spectacle,  the  skulls 
and  bones  of  the  colonists,  and  the  heads  of  the  horses  and 
cows  which  they  had  brought  with  them,  lying  scattered 
about  on  every  side,  sad  witnesses  to  the  savage  natures  of 
the  men  of  the  forest  by  whom  they  were  surrounded. 
From  a  native  whose  confidence  was  gained,  the  following 
account  of  the  massacre  was  drawn :  "  He  then  showed  us 
the  place  where  our  people  had  set  up  a  column,  to  which 
was  fastened  a  piece  of  tin,  whereon  tke  arms  of  Holland  were 
painted.  One  of  their  chiefs  took  this  off  for  the  purpose 
of  making  tobacco-pipes,  not  knowing  that  he  was  doing 
amiss.  Those  in  command  at  the  house  made  such  an  ado 
about  it  that  the  Indians,  not  knowing  how  it  was,  went 
away  and  slew  the  chief  who  had  done  it,  and  brought  a 
token  of  the  dead  to  the  house,  to  those  in  command,  who 
told  them  that  they  wished  they  had  not  done  it,  that  they 
should  have  brought  him  to  them,  as  they  wished  to  have 
forbidden  him  not  to  do  the  like  again.  They  then  went 
away,  and  the  friends  of  the  murdered  chief  invited  their 
friends — as  they  are  a  people,  like  the  Italians,  who  are  very 
revengeful — to  set  about  the  work  of  vengeance.  Observing 
our  people  out  of  the  house,  each  one  at  his  work,  that  there 
was  not  more  than  one  inside,  who  was  lying  sick,  and  a 
lar^e  mastiff  who  was  chained  —  had  he  been  loose  they 
would  not  have  dared  to  approach  the  house  —  and  the  man 
who  had  command  standing  near  the  house,  three  of  the 
stoutest  Indians  who  were  to  do  the  deed,  bringing  a  lot  of 
bear-skins  with  them  to  exchange,  sought  to  enter  the  house. 
The  man  in  charge  went  in  with  them  to  make  the  barter, 
which  -being  done,  he  went  to  the  loft  where  the  stores  lay, 
and,  in  descending  the  stairs,  one  of  the  Indians  seized  an 
axe  and  cleft  his  head  so  that  he  fell  down  dead.  They  also 
relieved  the  sick  man  of  life,  and  shot  into  the  dog,  who  wao 


26  DUTCH  RULE. 

chained  fast,  and  whom  they  most  feared,  twenty-five  arrows 
before  they  could  dispatch  him.  They  then  proceeded  towards 
the  rest  of  the  men,  who  were  at  their  work,  and  going 
amongst  them  with  pretensions  of  friendship,  struck  them 
down.  Thus  was  our  young  colony  destroyed,  causing  us 
serious  loss." 

Taught  by  this  sad  experience,  De  Yries  adopted  an  emi- 
nently pacific  policy,  and,  by  the  free  use  of  presents  and 
mild  words,  gradually  gained  the  esteem  and  confidence 
of  the  savages,  and  finally  succeeded  in  concluding  a  treaty 
of  peace.  On  the  first  day  of  the  year  1633,  De  Yries  sailed 
up  the  river  in  quest  of  food,  which  had  been  nearly  exhausted 
in  his  long  voyage  out.*  At  Fort  Nassau  he  met  numbers  of 
the  natives,  whom  he  found  to  be  the  sole  occupants,  and  who 
had  assembled  to  trade  away  their  furs ;  but  the  voyagers 
could  enter  upon  no  trade  for  gain  until  their  necessities 
were  first  satisfied.  They  accordingly  moved  on  up  the 
river,  where  they  found  natives  wearing  English  jackets, 
which  proved  to  have  belonged  to  a  party  from  the  Virginia 
colony  who  had  visited  the  river  the  year  before  in  a  sloop, 
and  had  been  murdered  through  the  treachery  of  the  Indians. 
At  the  mouth  of  Minquaskill  (Christina  Creek)  they  saw  a 
whale,  but,  having  no  means  for  taking  it,  returned  to  the 
ship  at  Swanendael.  On  the  18th  the  yacht  again  sailed  up 
the  stream  with  a  fresh  supply  of  goods,  but  were  frozen  in 
and  detained  for  nearly  a  month,  experiencing  a  degree  of 
cold  which  in  this  latitude,  judging  by  the  mild  climate  of 
Holland,  they  had  deemed  impossible.  During  their  dlten- 
tion  the  crew  sent  out  hunting  parties,  who  returned  with 
"  wild  turkeys  weighing  from  thirty  to  thirty-six  pounds." 
Still  in  want  of  certain  kinds  of  provisions  necessary  for  the 
health  and  well-being  of  his  men,  which  he  was  unable  to 
obtain  from  the  natives,  and  evidently  desirous  of  seeing 
what  he  could  of  the  New  World,  De  Vries  sailed  for  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  was  well  received  by  the  Governor,  who  sent 
a  present  of  six  goats  to  his  brother  Governor  at  Manhattan, 
but  was  surprised  to  hear  that  the  Dutch  had  settlements 


WOUTER  VAN  TWILLER.  27 

upon  the  Delaware,  setting  forth  that  the  territory  upon  that 
stream  had  been  discovered  by  De  la  War.  Having  pur- 
chased the  needed  stores,  De  Yries  returned,  and  found  that 
the  party  whom  he  had  left  at  Swanendael  had  taken  but 
seven  whales,  and  these  very  poor,  yielding  but  thirty-two 
cartels  of  oil.  De  Vries  was  satisfied  by  the  large  numbers 
seen  that  whales  frequented  these  waters,  but  the  small 
quantities  of  oil  obtained  from  those  taken  convinced  him 
that  the  business  would  not  be  profitable.  Accordingly,  on 
the  14th  of  April,  gathering  in  all  his  effects,  and  taking  all 
his  party  with  him,  thus  leaving  the  bay  clear  of  Europeans, 
he  set  sail  for  Holland,  touching  on  his  way  at  Manhattan, 
and  leaving  the  present  of  the  English  Govern  or  of  Virginia. 

WOUTER  VAN  TWILLER,  1633-38.— A  lucrative  trade 
in  furs  had  now  been  established  in  the  New  World,  and  the 
policy  adopted  by  the  West  India  Company  seemed  to  be  to 
make  every  other  interest  bend  to  the  development  of  that. 
Hence  only  such  permanent  settlements  as  should  enable 
them  to  hold  firmly  their  possessions,  and  form  a  sufficient 
basis  for  trade,  were  encouraged.  Accordingly,  settlements 
upon  the  Delaware  were  made  and  abandoned  as  best  suited 
their  paramount  purpose.  As  the  trade  increased  in  value,  the 
strife  became  animated  for  its  exclusive  possession.  And  now  a 
fatal  evil  in  the  system  which  had  been  adopted  by  the  Com- 
pany, was  developed.  Patroonship  and  directorship  came  in 
conflict.  Patroons  had  seized  upon  all  the  most  valuable 
lands,  and  profitable  points  of  trade,  and  the  director  and  his 
council,  who  were  vested  with  supreme  authority,  found  them- 
selves stripped  of  power.  Bitter  quarrels  ensued.  The  di- 
rector, Peter  Minuit,  having  incurred  the  enmity  of  the 
powerful  patroons,  and  forfeited  the  confidence  of  the  Com- 
pany, was  recalled,  and  Wouter  Van  T wilier,  a  near  relative 
of  one  of  the  most  grasping  of  the  patroons,  Van  Rensselaer, 
was  selected  to  succeed  him.  To  rectify  their  system,  and  to 
re-acquire  the  exclusive  control  of  trade,  which  had  now  been 
proven  to  be  profitable,  the  Company  authorized  the  purchase 


2«  DUTCH  RULE. 

of  patroonships.  Accordingly,  on  the  7th  of  February,  1635, 
all  the  patroons  having  title  to  lands  upon  the  Delaware  sold 
their  interests  in  them  to  the  Directors  of  the  Company  for 
fifteen  thousand  six  hundred  gilders,  equal  to  six  thousand 
two  hundred  and  forty  dollars. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  New  England  colonies  having  rapidly 
increased  in  population,  a  party  from  Connecticut,  during  this 
same  year,  incited  by  the  love  of  adventure,  under  command 
of  George  Holmes,  sailed  to  the  Delaware,  with  the  design  of 
planting  themselves  upon  its  shores.  At  Fort  Nassau  they 
found  a  Dutch  garrison  in  possession,  which  they  attacked. 
Finding  it  stronger  than  they  anticipated,  they  were 
obliged  to  surrender  to  the  party  whom  they  had  sought  to 
conquer,  who  sent  them  as  prisoners  to  Manhattan,  where 
they  were  pardoned  and  allowed  to  settle  in  the  vicinity  of 
Fort  Amsterdam,  the  first  English  to  acquire  a  habitation  in 
New  Netherland. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DUTCH   AND  SWEDISH   RULE,  1638-55. 

SIR  WILLIAM  KIEFT,  1638-47.  — PETER  MINUIT,  1638- 
41. — Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  a  monarch  no 
less  renowned  for  his  arbitrary  will  and  personal  courage,  than 
for  his  devotion  to  the  rights  of  humanity  and  the  privileges 
of  the  Protestant  religion,  seeing  the  enterprise  displayed  hy 
neighboring  rulers  in  planting  colonies  and  acquiring  lands 
in  the  New  World,  determined  to  extend  the  power  of  his 
own  throne  in  the  same  direction.  As  early  as  1626,  a  Swed- 
ish West  India  Company  was  incorporated  by  the  States  of 
Sweden,  under  royal  sanction  and  patronage,  and  William 
Usselincx,  a  Netherlander,  who  claimed  to  have  been  the  origi- 
nator of  the  Dutch  Company,  was  appointed  to  lead  an  expe- 
dition. But  before  the  anticipations  of  prosperity  and  power 
which  were  fondly  indulged  could  be  realized,  and  to  a 
participation  in  which  all  nations  were  invited,  Gustavus 
found  the  Protestant  religion  in  Germany  in  danger  of  over- 
throw, and  postponing  his  plans  of  colonization  for  the  time, 
and  arbitrarily  seizing  the  treasure  which  had  been  pledged 
to  the  new  company,  he  buckled  on  his  armor  and  led  his 
legions  to  the  defence  of  the  cherished  faith.  At  the  battle 
of  Liitzen,  fought  on  the  16th  of  October,  1632,  where  a  glo- 
rious triumph  for  Protestantism  and  the  rights  of  conscience 
was  gained,  the  great  monarch  fell,  mortally  wounded. 
Though  borne  down  by  the  cares  and  sore  trials  of  the  cam- 
paign, he  had  not  forgotten  his  fond  purpose  of  colonization, 
which  he  had  come  to  regard  as  "  the  jewel  of  his  kingdom," 
and  a  few  days  before  his  death  he  earnestly  commended  it 
to  the  people  of  Germany.  It  was  not  the  hope  of  trade 

29 


30  D  UTCH  AND  S  WED  IS  H  R  ULE. 

which  allured  him,  but  the  visions  of  colonists  planted  in 
happy  homes,  a  blessing  to  the  common  man,  to  the  whole 
Protestant  world,  to  all  oppressed  Christendom. 

Christina,  the  little  daughter  of  the  king,  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  and  Oxenstiern,  the  prime  minister,  desirous  of  carry- 
ing out  the  cherished  policy  of  his  late  master,  renewed  the 
charter  of  the  Company,  and  extended  its  benefits  to  Ger- 
many, the  Chambers  at  Frankfort  confirming  the  act  on  the 
26th  of  June,  1633.  But  for  more  than  four  years  active 
operations  were  delayed.  Near  the  close  of  the  year  1637, 
a  little  company  of  Swedes  and  Finns  embarked  in  two 
small  vessels,  the  Key  of  Calmar  and  the  Griffin,  under  the 
charge  of  the  same  Peter  Minuit,  who,  in  1626,  had  been 
invested  with  the  general  directorship  of  New  Netherland,  and 
who,  in  1632,  after  being  involved  in  frequent  quarrels  with 
the  Patroons,  had  been  superseded  by  Wouter  Van  Twiller. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1638,  the  vessels  arrived  in  Dela- 
ware Bay,  and  the  lands  from  the  southern  cape  to  the  falls 
near  Trenton  were  purchased  of  the  Indians.  Near  the 
mouth  of  a  little  creek  on  the  northern  limits  of  the  State  of 
Delaware,  which,  in  honor  of  their  youthful  sovereign,  they 
called  Christina  Creek,  the  party  landed  and  erected  a  fort, 
which  they  likewise  named  Christina.  Kieft,  who  was  now 
Director  of  New  Netherland,  sent  a  vigorous  protest  to 
Minuit  against  occupying  and  erecting  forts  on  any  part  of 
the  territory  claimed  by  the  Dutch  Company,  of  which  the 
lands  upon  the  Delaware  were  a  part.  "  This,"  says  Kicft, 
"  has  been  our  property  for  many  years,  occupied  with  forts, 
and  sealed  by  our  blood,  which  also  was  done  when  thou 
wast  in  the  service  of  New  Netherland,  and  is  therefore  well 
known  to  thee."  Minuit,  trusting  to  the  power  of  the  flag 
under  which  he  sailed,  for  Sweden  was  now  one  of  the  fore- 
most of  nations,  paid  little  attention  to  this  protest,  but  went 
on  with  the  erection  of  his  fort,  entered  upon  a  vigorous 
competition  for  the  trade  in  furs,  an  art  which  he  had  learned 
while  in  the  service  of  the  Dutch,  and  by  the  end  of  July 
had  completed,  his  fort  had  erected  pillars  inscribed  with  the 


PETER  HOLLANDAER.  31 

letters  "  C.  R.  S.,"  and  the  ships,  well  laden  with  furs,  had 
been  dispatched  for  Sweden. 

Minuit  remained  with  his  infant  colony,  and  to  his  enter- 
prise and  skill  was  it  due  that  the  settlers  were  kept  together 
and  successfully  protected  against  both  savage  and  civilized 
foes.  The  Dutch  were  occupying  Fort  Nassau  when  the 
Swedes  arrived  in  the  river,  and  continued  to  hold  it  for  the 
purpose  of  barter;  but  the  arts  of  Minuit  soon  triumphed 
over  the  traders  from  Manhattan,  Governor  Kieft  complain- 
ing to  his  masters  soon  after,  that  his  trade  had  fallen  off  full 
thirty  thousand  beavers. 

For  more  than  a  year  the  Christina  colonists  had  no  aid  nor 
intelligence  from  their  former  homes,  and  they  at  length 
began  to  be  in  want.  So  pressing  had  their  necessities  finally 
become,  that  they  had  made  overtures  to  the  authorities'  at 
Manhattan  for  permission  to  remove  thither ;  but  on  the  day 
before  this  removal  was  to  have  taken  place,  early  in  the 
year  1640,  a  ship,  richly  laden  with  cattle  and  provisions, 
opportunely  arrived  upon  the  Delaware,  and  saved  them  the 
loss  and  humiliation  of  giving  up  their  settlement.  Minuit 
governed  the  colony  for  nearly  three  years  with  singular 
success,  avoiding  hostile  encounters  with  the  natives,  and 
with  the  Dutch  who  claimed  the  soil,  and  finally  died  in  the 
midst  of  the  colony  which  he  had  planted. 

PETER  HOLLANDAER,  1641-43.  —  Peter  Hollandaer,  a 
Swede,  was  commissioned  by  the  home  government  as  Gov- 
ernor of  New  Sweden,  in  1641.  He  had  previously  sailed 
with  the  colonists  who  had  been  sent  to  reinforce  the  original 
settlers.  At  about  this  time  attempts  were  made  by  parties 
of  English,  from  the  New  England  and  Virginia  colonies,  to 
get  a  foothold  upon  the  Delaware.  A  party  from  Connecti- 
cut, sailing  under  command  of  Robert  Cogswell,  had  planted 
themselves  at  the  mouth  of  Salem  Creek,  near  the  present 
site  of  Salem,  N.  J.  Another  company  had  boldly  sailed  up 
past  Fort  Nassau,  and  without  any  commission  of  a  potentate 
made  a  beginning  of  settlement  on  the  SchuylkilL. 


32  D  UTCH  AND  S  WEDISH  RULE. 

These  audacious  intrusions  were  regarded  by  the  authorities 
at  New  Amsterdam  as  intolerable  indignities,  and  Jan  Jansen 
Van  Ilpendam  was  sent  with  two  vessels  and  a  hostile  force  to 
dispossess  them.  The  intruders  on  the  Schuylkill  were  routed, 
their  fort  destroyed,  and  themselves  roughly  handled.  The 
party  at  Salem  Creek  was  also  driven  away,  the  Swedes  at 
Christina  lending  a  helping  hand. 

JOHN"  PRINTZ,  1643-53.— After  holding  authority  for 
about  a  year  and  a  half,  Hollandaer  was  succeeded  by  John 
Printz,  who,  in  addition  to  the  usual  commission,  received 
minute  instructions  for  his  guidance,  dated  August  15th,  1642, 
at  Stockholm.  He  was,  first  of  all,  to  maintain  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  Indians,  and  by  the  advantage  of  low  prices, 
hold  their  trade.  His  next  care  was  to  cultivate  enough 
grain  for  the  wants  of  the  colonists,  and,  when  this  was 
insured,  turn  his  attention  to  the  culture  of  tobacco,  the  rais- 
ing of  cattle  and  sheep,  especially  sheep  of  a  good  species,  the 
culture  of  the  grape,  and  the  raising  of  silk-worms.  The 
manufacture  of  salt  by  evaporation,  and  the  search  for  metals 
and  minerals,  were  to  be  prosecuted,  and  an  inquiry  into  the 
establishment  of  fisheries,  with  a  view  to  profit,  especially 
the  whale  fishery,  was  to  be  made.  Sailing  from  Gottenburg, 
on  the  1st  of  Nov.,  1642,  in  the  Stoork  and  Renoion,  the  new 
Governor  and  a  strong  party  of  settlers,  after  a  tedious  voy- 
age, arrived  at  Fort  Christina,  on  the  15th  of  Feb.,  1643. 
Printz  was  a  military  man,  having  been  Lieutenant-Colonel 
of  cavalry,  and  at  once  detected  the  weakness  of  the  fort  for 
commanding  the  navigation  of  the  river.  He  accordingly 
selected  a  site  for  a  new  fort  on  the  island  of  Tinicum,  which 
he  at  once  proceeded  to  erect.  Here,  also,  he  built  for 
himself  a  palace  suited  to  his  rank,  in  the  midst  of  orchards 
and  pleasure  grounds,  the  bricks  used  in  its  construction 
having  been  brought  from  Stockholm.  These  bricks,  of  a 
pale-yellow  color,  and  quite  small,  are  still  found  in  the 
neighborhood.  The  fort,  which  was  called  New  Gottenburg, 
was  built  of  "  groenen  logs,"  and  made  quite  strong.  Prinrz 


JOHN  PRINTZ.  33 

also  erected  a  fort  called  Elsinborg,  near  the  mouth  of  Salem 
Creek,  which  he  garrisoned  with  a  lieutenant  and  twelve 
men,  and  on  which  were  mounted  eight  brass  twelve- 
pounders.  All  ships  ascending  the  river  were  obliged  to  lie 
to,  lower  their  colors,  and  secure  a  permit  from  the  Governor 
before  they  were  allowed  to  proceed. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1643,  John  Pappegoya,  who 
had  previously  been  upon  the  Delaware,  but  had  returned  to 
Sweden,  and  who  appears  to  have  been  a  favorite  at  court, 
received  from  the  Queen  and  her  council,  a  letter  dated  at 
Stockholm  on  the  2d  of  November,  1643,  commending  him 
to  Governor  Printz,  and  requesting  that  he  be  "  graciously 
employed  in  order  to  his  advancement."  This  request  was 
promptly  accorded,  Pappegoya  marrying  the  Governor's 
daughter,  and  himself  becoming  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
province.  The  Minquas  Indians,  a  tribe  of  the  Five  Nations 
who  dwelt  upon  the  Conestoga,  possessed  of  great  enterprise 
and  skill  in  trapping  for  furs,  brought  by  far  the  most  lucra- 
tive trade  to  the  Europeans.  This  the  Swedes  had  monopo- 
lized. t  Indeed,  the  western  bank  of  the  Delaware,  and  its 
tributary,  the  Schuylkill,  were  exclusively  claimed  by  them, 
and  though  Fort  Elsenborg  had  been  built  upon  the  opposite 
bank,  the  titles  to  lands  upon  the  western  side  had  always 
been  regarded  as  of  especial  binding  force.  Van  Ilpendam, 
who  had  been  sent  by  Kieft  to  drive  away  the  English  upon 
the  Delaware,  and  who  had  remained  at  Fort  Nassau  as  Com- 
missary or  nee-Director,  having  forfeited  the  confidence  of 
Governor  Kieft,  was  recalled,  and  Andreas  Hudde  was  ap- 
pointed to  exercise  authority  in  his  place.  Hudde  seems  to 
have  been  a  man  singularly  discreet  and  politic,  and  to  have 
adopted  the  instructions  given  by  the  ministers  of  Christina 
to  Printz,  "  to  work  underhand  as  much  as  possible  with  good 
manners  and  success."  Conflict  of  authority  frequently  arose 
between  these  two  vicegerents  of  power  as  they  faced  each 
other  from  opposite  sides  of  the  stream,  in  which  vigorous 
remonstrances  and  sharp  protests  passed  between  Tinicura 
and  Nassau;  but  beyond  this  exchange  of  harmless  paper 


34  DUTCH  AND  SWEDISH  RULE. 

missiles,  the  war  was  rarely  carried.  Under  the  vigilant  End 
crafty  policy  of  Hudde,  the  Dutch  began  gradually  to  push 
settlements  upon  the  west  shore.  Land  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Schuylkill,  now  the  site  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  was 
acquired  of  the  Indians,  and  a  fort  erected  thereon.  Printz, 
to  show  his  contempt  for  this  encroachment  upon  his  domin- 
ions, immediately  built  a  large  frame  building  in  its  front,  in 
close  proximity,  so  as  to  cut  off  its  command  of  the  river. 
Hudde,  believing  in  the  policy  of  hold-fast,  paid  little  atten- 
tion to  this  indignity;,  but  quietly  exercised  all  his  arts  to 
acquire  favor  with  the  Indians,  and  to  secure  possession  of 
their  lands. 

PETER  STUYVESANT,  1647-64.  — On  the  27th  of  May, 
1647,  Peter  Stuyvesant  succeeded  to  the  supreme  director- 
ship of  New  Netherland.  Upon  his  assumption  of  power  he 
found  the  integrity  of  his  dominions  threatened  on  all  sides. 
New  England  was  pushing  him  upon  the  north  and  east,  and 
the  Swedes  upon  the  south.  To  maintain  undiminishod  his 
territory,  he  had  need  for  all  his  executive  ability.  Commis- 
sary Hudde  was  retained  upon  the  Delaware,  and  by  his  con- 
stant vigilance  kept  his  master  well  informed  of  all  that  was 
passing  in  his  viceroyalty.  He  complains  of  constant  aggres- 
sions and  annoyances  on  the  part  of  the  Swedes,  but  these 
were  doubtless  mutual ;  for  the  Dutch  had  evidently  deter- 
mined to  gradually  envelop  and  circumscribe  the  dominions 
of  the  Swedes  until  they  should  be  compelled  to  yield  to  the 
Dutch  power. 

This  is  foreshadowed  in  the  recommendation  of  Stuyvesant 
to  the  West  India  Company,  to  plant  a  colony  at  Swanendael, 
another  on  the  east  side  of  the  bay,  and  a  third  at  the  Com- 
pany's redoubt  at  Beversreede.  To  discover  what  titles  the 
Swedes  had  to  lands  upon  the  Delaware,  Stuyvesant,  in  1651, 
sailed  thither,  and  opened  negotiations  with  Printz,  at  first  in 
writing,  and  finally  in  person,  when  the  question  as  to  titles 
was  propounded.  Printz,  without  producing  any  records, 
drew  up  a  writing  in  which  he  made  "  the  Swedish  limits 


JOHN  PAPPEG  0  YA.  35 

wide  enough."  But  this  failed  to  satisfy  Stuyvesant,  who 
characterized  it  as  a  subterfuge,  and  adduced  what  he  re- 
garded as  plain  proof  of  his  allegation.  Numerous  complaints, 
and  claims  of  indemnity  for  losses  sustained  by  lawless  con- 
duct of  the  Swedes,  were  presented  to  the  Governor  during 
his  stay.  Determined  to  put  an  end  to  these  troubles,  Stuy- 
vesant having  acquired  title  from  the  Indians  to  lands  south 
of  Fort  Christina,  proceeded  to  erect  a  new  fort  on  com- 
manding ground,  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  New  Castle, 
which  he  called  Fort  Casimir ;  whereupon  Fort  Nassau  was 
abandoned  and  destroyed  as  of  no  further  value.  Printz  pro- 
tested against  this  encroachment  upon  lands  claimed  by  the 
Swedes ;  but  beyond  protests  he  seems  to  have  meditated  no 
more  hostile  demonstration;  for  before  the  departure  of 
Stuyvesant,  the  two  Governors  had  friendly  conference,  in 
which  "  they  mutually  promised  not  to  commit  any  hostile  or 
vexatious  acts  against  one  another,  but  to  maintain  together 
all  neighborly  friendship  and  correspondence,  as  good  friends 
and  allies  are  bound  to  do." 

JOHN  PAPPEGOYA,  1653-54.  —The  Dutch  Fort  Casi- 
mir rendered  the  Swedish  Fort  Elsinborg,  which  had  been 
relied  on  to  command  the  navigation  of  the  river,  useless,  and 
it  was  accordingly  abandoned ;  but  on  the  plea  that  it  had 
become  uninhabitable  on  account  of  the  mosquitoes,  which 
swarmed  about  it  like  a  resistless  plague.  Governor  Printz, 
having  by  this  time,  doubtless,  discovered  that  he  had  been 
overreached  by  the  crafty  Hudde  and  the  headstrong  Peter 
Stuyvesant,  and  that  his  power  was  fast  waning,  asked  to  be 
relieved  of  the  government  of  the  colony.  "Without  awaiting 
the  answer  of  the  Queen,  Printz  set  sail  for  Sweden  in  Octo- 
ber, 1653,  leaving  his  son-in-law,  Pappegoya,  in  chief  author- 
ity. Printz's  administration  was  anything  but  successful. 
He  seems  to  have  come  to  America  with  the  expectation  of 
holding  court  in  the  New  "World  with  all  the  formality  and 
insignia  of  royalty  preserved  by  the  petty  potentates  of  Eu- 
rope. He  is  represented  by  De  Vries,  who  came  in  a  ship  from 


36  D  UTCH  AND  S  WEDISH  R  ULE. 

New  Amsterdam  to  visit  him  in  October,  1643,  as  a  man  very 
furious  and  passionate,  immense  in  person,  weighing  over 
four  hundred  pounds,  and  as  drinking  "  three  drinks  at  every 
meal."  He  was  difficult  of  access,  requiring  communication 
to  be  made  to  him  in  writing,  and  when  messengers  came 
bringing  intelligence  that  was  distasteful,  subjecting  them  to 
personal  abuse,  and  sending  them  home  "  bloody  and 
bruised."  This  was  not  the  kind  of  government  required 
for  an  infant  colony,  estimated  at  various  periods  to  number 
from  fifty  to  three  hundred  souls,  having  to  maintain  a  vigor- 
ous competition  with  a  rival  power  upon  the  river,  and  to 
preserve  peace  and  friendly  relations  with  the  fickle  and 
ignorant  savages  of  the  forest. 

In  November,  1653,  the  Swedish  College  of  Commerce 
granted  to  John  Amundson  a  commission  as  Captain  in  the 
Navy,  and  sent  him  to  the  Delaware  to  superintend  the  Con- 
struction of  vessels,  he  having  obtained  a  grant  of  land  upon 
the  river,  favorably  located  for  the  prosecution  of  shipbuilding. 
Printz  had  brought  under  cultivation  a  farm  upon  the  island 
of  Tinicum,  which  he  had  much  improved  and  planted.  This 
had  been  granted  to  him  by  royal  favor,  which  upon  his  de- 
parture he  left  to  his  daughter,  the  wife  of  Pappegoya,  where 
the  Governor's  residence  was  maintained.  Pappegoya  re- 
tained his  power  but  five  or  six  months. 

JOHN  CLAUDE  RYSINGH,  1654-55.  — The  application 
of  Printz  to  be  relieved  was  not  acted  on  for  nearly  two 
months  after  the  Governor  had  taken  his  departure,  its  accept- 
ance bearing  date  of  12th  of  December.  He  was  granted 
the  desired  favor,  but  he  was  urged  to  remain  until  a  suc- 
cessor could  be  duly  provided.  On  the  same  day  that  this 
document  was  signed,  John  Claude  Bysingh,  who  had  been 
Secretary  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in  Stockholm,  was 
commissioned  as  vice-Director  of  New  Sweden,  and  sailing  in 
the  government  ship  Aren,  arrived  in  the  colony  near  the 
close  of  May,  1654.  He  was  not  invested  with  the  absolute 
powers  which  had  been  conferred  upon  Printz.  Military  and 


JOHN  CLAUDE  RYSINGH.  37 

naval  authority  was  bestowed  upon  John  Amundson,  who 
was  also  to  have  superintendence  of  government  shipbuild- 
ing, but  in  such  a  manner  that  neither  was  to  decide  or 
approve  anything  without  consulting  the  other ;  and  a  coun- 
cil, formed  of  the  best  instructed  and  most  reliable  officers  in 
the  country,  was  established  for  the  exercise  of  civil  authority, 
of  which  Bysingh  was  director.  He  was  instructed  to  em- 
ploy none  but  the  mildest  measures  against  the  Dutch  at 
Fort  Casimir;  and  it  was  recommended,  if  he  could  not 
induce  them  to  abandon  it  by  argument,  that  he  should  en- 
deavor to  supersede  its  importance  and  power,  by  building 
another  fort  below. 

Disregarding  the  explicit  instructions  of  the  home  govern- 
ment to  pursue  a  pacific  policy,  Rysingh  had  no  sooner 
arrived  in  the  river  and  ascertained  that  the  Dutch  garrison 
at  Fort  Casimir  was  weak  and  would  be  powerless  to  resist 
him,  than  he  assumed  the  offensive.  Gerrit  Bicker,  who  was 
in  command  of  the  fort,  upon  seeing  a  strange  sail  approach- 
ing, sent  his  secretary,  Van  Tienhoven,  to  learn  its  character 
and  destination.  Rysingh  detained  the  messenger  and  his 
escort  until  the  following  day,  when  he  sent  a  company  of 
soldiers  under  the  leadership  of  Lieutenant  Swe.n  Schute,  a 
soldier  of  long  service  in  the  colony,  marked  by  royal  favors, 
who  followed  close  upon  the  path  of  the  messenger,  and 
entering  the  fort,  where  they  were  received  as  friends,  pro- 
ceeded to  take  forcible  possession,  rifling  the  garrison,  even 
to  side-arms.  The  conduct  of  Rysingh  is  defended  on  the 
plea  that  in  the  correspondence  between  the  Dutch  and 
Swedish  home  governments,  the  complaints  of  encroach- 
ments on  the  part  of  the  Dutch  in  building  Fort  Casimir 
had  been  answered  by  saying  "  if  the  Dutch  are  found 
encroaching  upon  Swedish  territory,  drive  them  off,"  and 
that  his  answer  may  have  been  communicated  to  Rysingh 
after  receiving  his  general  instructions. 

Finding  that  the  new  r&e-Governor  was  disposed  to  assume 

•the  responsibility  of  government,  and  a  more  aggressive  policy 

than  he  was  inclined  to  pursue,  Pappegoya,  leaving  his  wifa 


88  D  UTCH  AND  S  WEDISH  R  ULE. 

in  possession  of  Printz  Hall,  departed  for  Europe  soon  after, 
whereupon  Rysingh  assumed  the  title  of  Director-general. 
One  of  his  first  acts,  after  gaining  full  possession  of  the  terri- 
tory, was  to  call  together  the  chief  sachems  of  tribes  far  around, 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  the  old-time  friendship,  which 
during  the  sway  of  the  arbitrary  and  irascible  Printz  had 
been  well  nigh  destroyed.  Ten  grand  sachems  assembled  at 
the  seat  of  government  on  Tinicum  Island.  In  this  gravo 
council,  conducted  with  all  that  decorum  and  gravity  which 
was  a  characteristic  of  the  North  American  Indian,  bitter 
complaints  were  made  of  the  ill  treatment  which  the  natives 
had  received  at  the  hands  of  the  Swedes,  chief  among  which 
was  that  many  of  their  number  had  died,  plainly  poinKng, 
though  not  explicitly  saying  it,  to  the  giving  of  spirituous 
liquors  as  the  cause.  Rysingh,  without  attempting  to  answer 
these  complaints,  distributed  valuable  presents  which  he  had 
brought  with  him  for  the  purpose.  Whereupon  the  chiefs 
sat  apart  for  conference.  With  the  piled  up  presents  in  their 
midst,  Naaman,  the  most  venerable  and  sincere  among  them, 
spoke :  "  Look,'  said  he,  pointing  to  the  presents,  '  and  see 
what  they  have  brought  to  us,  for  which  they  desire  our 
friendship.'  So  saying,  he  stroked  himself  three  times  down 
his  arm,  which,  among  the  Indians,  was  a  token  of  friend- 
ship; afterwards  he  thanked  the  Swedes  on  behalf  of  his 
people  for  the  presents  they  had  received,  and  said  that 
friendship  should  be  observed  more  strictly  between  them 
than  it  had  been  before ;  that  the  Swedes  and  the  Indians 
had  been  in  Governor  Printz's  time  as  one  body  and  one 
heart  (striking  his  breast  as  he  spoke),  and  that  thencefor- 
ward they  should  be  as  one  head ;  in  token  of  which  he  took 
hold  of  his  head  with  both  hands,  and  made  a  motion  as  if 
he  were  tying  a  knot,  and  then  he  made  this  comparison : 
That,  as  the  calabash  was  round  without  any  crack,  so  they 
should  be  a  compact  body  without  any  fissure ;  and  that  if 
any  should  attempt  to  do  any  harm  to  the  Indians,  the  Swedes 
should  immediately  inform  them  of  it,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Indians  would  give  immediate  notice  to  the  Chris- 


JOHN  CLAUDE  RYSINGH.  39 

tians  of  any  plots  against  them,  even  if  it  were  in  the  middle 
of  the  night.  On  this  they  were  answered,  that  that  would  he 
indeed  a  true  and  lasting  friendship,  if  every  one  would  agree 
to  it ;  on  which  they  gave  a  general  shout  in  token  of  consent. 
Immediately  on  this  the  great  guns  were  fired,  which  pleased 
them  extremely,  and  they  said,  'Poo,  Aoo,  Aoo;  mokirick  piconj 
that  is  to  say,  '  Hear  and  believe,  the  great  guns  are  fired.' " 
All  the  treaties  which  had  been  concluded  with  the  Indians 
from  the  first  settlement,  and  which  had  been  recorded  at 
Stockholm,  were  produced  and  confirmed.  "  When  those 
who  had  signed  the  deeds  heard  their  names  they  appeared 
to  rejoice,  but,  when  the  names  were  read  of  those  who  were 
dead,  they  hung  their  heads  in  sorrow."  *  The  ceremonies 
were  concluded  with  feasting  and  drinking,  and  the  treaties, 
confirmed  in  this  solemn  and  characteristic  manner,  were 
ever,  after  kept. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  the  home  government,  dated  July 
llth,  1654,  Rysingh  gives  a  flattering  account  of  the  progress 
of  the  colony  since  his  arrival,  which  he  estimates  to  have 
quadrupled  in  population  and  in  ground  under  cultivation; 
"for  then,"  he  says,  "we  found  only  seventy  persons,  and 
now,  including  Hollanders  and  others,  there  are  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-eight  persons."  f  Among  the  wants  of  the 
Governor  he  is  particular  in  making  known  to  the  minister 
that  of  a  wife.  "  Sufficiently  plain  offers,"  he  says,  have  been 
made  to  him  by  the  English  who  have  visited  the  colony,  but 
he  would  not  think  of  entering  into  an  alliance  without  the 
approval  of  the  minister,  whose  advice  he  relies  on  with  more 
confidence  than  that  of  any  other  person  in  the  world ;  and  he 
expresses  a  special  desire  that  he  would  send  him  a  good  one. 
But  the  morning  of  his  administration,  which  had  thus 
dawned  so  brightly,  was  soon  destined  to  be  obscured  by 
clouds  and  darkness,  though  through  no  lack  of  wisdom  and 
enterprise  on  his  part.  The  Dutch  at  Manhattan  had  greatly 
increased  in  strength,  and  numbers,  while  the  Swedes  upon 
the  Delaware,  in  their  best  estate,  were  but  feeble.  The 

*Campaiu»3,  77.  fHaz.  Ann.  153. 


40  DUTCH  AND  SWEDISH  RULE. 

Swedes  had  gained  a  momentary  advantage  in  the  capture 
of  Fort  Casimir;  but  that  very  triumph  was  regarded  by 
the  Dutch  as  an  encroachment  upon,  and  an  insult  to  their 
power,  and  was  to  be  seized  upon  as  the  immediate  occasion 
for  breaking  up  entirely  the  Swedish  dominion  in  the  JS"ew 
World.  For  the  West  India  Company,  on  learning  of  the 
loss  of  the  fort,  sent  orders  to  Stuyvesant  "  to  exert  every 
nerve  to  avenge  the  insult  by  not  only  replacing  matters  on 
the  Delaware  in  their  former  position,  but  by  driving  the 
Swedes  from  every  side  of  that  river."  In  the  meantime,  a 
Swedish  ship,  called  the  Golden  Shark,  was  piloted  by  mis- 
take or  treachery  behind  Staten  Island,  where  it  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Dutch,  and  was  held  by  Stuyvesant  as  a  reprisal 
for  the  seizure  of  Fort  Casimir.  Van  Elswyck,  its  captain, 
was  dispatched  to  the  Delaware  with  a  request  that  Rysingh 
would  either  repair  in  person  to  Manhattan,  or  send  one  duly 
qualified  to  settle  the  difficulties  between  them,  and  secure 
the  release  of  the  ship.  To  this  Rysingh  declined  to  listen. 
A  wordy  correspondence  ensued,  the  only  effect  of  which 
was  to  widen  the  breach. 

Peace  had  been  concluded  between  England  and  Holland, 
and  Queen  Christina,  now  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  ended 
a  feeble  reign  by  voluntarily  yielding  the  throne  to  her  cousin 
Charles  Gustavus.  Holland,  free  from  foreign  war,  and  be- 
holding the  power  of  Sweden  rapidly  waning  since  the  days 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  determined  to  pursue  an  aggressive 
policy  in  the  New  World.  Accordingly,  five  armed  vessels 
were  sent  to  Stuyvesant,  with  a  renewal  of  the  order  to  drive 
the  Swedes  from  the  Delaware.  Determined  to  go  with 
sufficient  force  to  be  master  of  the  situation,  the  Dutch 
Governor,  with  much  ado,  collected  a  force  of  over  six  hun- 
dred men,  and,  after  attending  solemn  religious  services, 
sailed  on  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  September  4th,  1655,  in 
seven  vessels,  bent  upon  conquest.  On  the  following  day  he 
arrived  in  the  bay.  Fort  Elsinborg,  which  had  been  aban- 
doned, was  first  seized.  Fort  Casimir,  or  Trinity,  which  name 
it  had  received  since  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Swedes, 


JOHN  CLAUDE  RYSINGH.  41 

was  under  command  of  Swen  Schute,  and  Fort  Christina  un- 
der Governor  Rysingh  in  person.  The  surrender  of  Casimir 
was  demanded  by  Stuyvesant  as  the  property  of  the  Dutch. 
Schute  held  out  until  the  following  day,  when,  having  had 
an  interview  with  Eysingh,  and  seeing  that  resistance  was 
useless,  capitulated  upon  honorable  terms.  At  Christina 
Rysingh  decided  to  offer  resistance,  and,  accordingly,  Stuy- 
vesant determined  upon  its  reduction  by  siege,  which,  after 
an  investment  of  fourteen  days,  was  also  surrendered,  even 
more  favorable  terms  being  accorded  to  the  garrison  than  to 
that  at  Casimir.  The  conduct  of  the  Dutch  troops  during 
the  continuance  of  the  siege,  and  after  the  capitulation,  was 
most  inhuman.  The  laws  of  civilized  warfare  were  set  at 
naught.  According  to  the  remonstrance  of  Rysingh,  Stuy- 
vesant's  men  "  acted  as  if  they  had  been  on  the  laads  of  their 
inveterate  enemy,"  plundering  the  Swedish  villages,  and  at 
Fort  Christina  violently  tearing  women  from  their  houses, 
destroying  buildings,  and  butchering,  day  after  day,  oxen, 
cows,  swine,  and  other  creatures :  "  Even  the  horses  were 
not  spared,  but  wantonly  shot,  the  plantations  destroyed,  and 
the  whole  country  left  so  desolate  that  scarce  any  means  are 
remaining  for  the  subsistence  of  the  inhabitants.-'  "  The 
flower  of  their  troops  [Swedish]  were  picked  out  and  sent  to 
New  Amsterdam,  under  the  pretext  of  their  free  choice, 
being  forcibly  carried  on  board  their  ships." 

Stuyvesant  determined  to  make  thorough  work,  and  suc- 
ceeded well  in  his  purpose.  The  Swedes  and  Finns  who 
desired  to  remain  were  required  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Dutch  power,  and  even  those  who  chose  to  return  to 
the  mother  country  were  obliged  to  take  a  like  oath,  to  be 
binding  until  their  departure. 

Thus  ended  the  power  of  the  Swedish  arms  in  the  New 
"World.  It  had  been  maintained  from  1638  to  1655,  a  period 
of  a  little  more  than  seventeen  years.  "  The  descendants 
of  these  colonists,"  says  Bancroft,  "  in  the  course  of  genera- 
tions, widely  scattered  and  blended  with  emigrants  of  other 
lineage,  constitute  probably  more  than  one  part  in  two  hun 


42  DUTCH  AND  SWEDISH  RULE. 

dred  of  the  present  population  of  the  country.  At  the  sur- 
render, they  did  not  much  exceed  seven  hundred  souls.  Free 
from  ambition,  ignorant  of  the  ideas  which  were  convulsing 
the  English  mind,  it  was  only  as  Protestants  that  they  shared 
the  impulse  of  the  age.  They  cherished  the  calm  earnest- 
ness of  religious  feeling ;  they  reverenced  the  bonds  of  family 
and  the  purity  of  morals;  their  children,  under  every  disad- 
vantage of  want  of  teachers  and  of  Swedish  books,  were  well 
instructed.  With  the  natives  they  preserved  peace.  A  love 
for  Sweden,  their  dear  mother  country,  the  abiding  senti- 
ment of  loyalty  towards  its  sovereign,  continued  to  distinguish 
the  little  band ;  at  Stockholm,  they  remained  for  a  century 
the  objects  of  a  disinterested  and  generous  regard ;  affection 
united  them  in  the  'New  World ;  and  a  part  of  their  descend- 
ants still  preserve  their  altar  and  their  dwellings,  around 
the  graves  of  their  fathers."  Of  the  Dutch,  who  were  now 
in  full  possession,  he  says :  "  They  sounded  with  exultation 
the  channel  of  the.5deep  stream,  which  was  no  longer  shared 
with  the  Swedes;  they  counted  with  delight  its  many  lovely 
runs  of  water,  on  which  the  beaver  built  his  villages ;  and 
the  great  travelers  who  had  visited  every  continent,  as  they 
ascended  the  Delaware,  declared  it  one  of  the  noblest  rivers 
in  the  world.  Its  banks  were  more  inviting  than  the  lands 
on  the  Amazon." 


CHAPTER  III. 

DUTCH    RULE,  1655-64. 


DETER  STUYVESANT,  1655-64.  —  DERCK  SMIDT,  1655. 
J-  Scarcely  had  his  operations  upon  the  Delaware  heen  con- 
cluded, when  Stuyvesant  was  summoned  home  in  great  haste 
to  defend  his  possessions  upon  the  Hudson,  the  Indians  hav- 
ing risen  in  the  absence  of  the  Governor  and  the  military, 
massacred  and  carried  away  into  captivity  large  numbers 
of  the  helpless  and  unoifending  settlers,  and  laid  their  habi- 
tations in  ruins.  Leaving  Derek  Smidt  —  who  had  been  sent 
as  the  herald  from  the  fleet  to  demand  the  surrender  of 
Fort  Casimir  —  as  Schout-Fiscal  and  chief  agent  of  the  Dutch 
in  the  conquered  province,  Stuyvesant  hastened  away  with 
all  his  force  to  punish  the  savages  and  restore  his  authority 
at  home. 

JOHN  PAUL  JACQUET,  1655-57.  —  On  the  29th  of 
November,  John  Paul  Jacquet  was  appointed  wee-Director 
of  the  entire  settlements  upon  the  Delaware,  with  the  seat  of 
government  at  Fort  Casimir.  A  council  was  given  him,  con- 
sisting of  Andreas  Hudde,  secretary,  surveyor,  and  keeper 
of  the  keys  of  the  Fort,  Elmerhuysen  Klein,  commissary, 
and  two  of  the  most  expert  freemen  to  constitute  a  court  for 
the  trial  of  civil  causes.  Two  sergeants  were  to  take  the 
place  of  the  two  freemen  in  the  trial  of  military  offenders. 
In  March  following,  the  Swedish  ship  Mercury  arrived  with 
one  hundred  and  thirty  emigrants,  the  authorities  in  Sweden 
having  had  no  intimation  of  the  conquest  of  their  colony  at 
the  time  of  sailing.  The  ship  was  not  allowed  to  pass  Fort 
Casimir,  and  its  commander  was  referred  to  Director-General 

43 


44  DUTCH  RULE. 

Stuyvesant  at  Manhattan.  To  him  application  was  accord- 
ingly made  for  permission  to  ascend  and  land  the  passengers ; 
but  Stuyvesant  refused  his  assent,  and  ordered  it  to  be 
brought  at  once  to  Manhattan.  In  the  meantime,  a  party  of 
Swedes  and  Indians  boarded  the  vessel,  and,  running  past  the 
fort,  landed  the  passengers,  who  settled  and  were  absorbed  in 
the  colony.  Pappegoya,  the  son-in-law  of  Printz,  was  of  the 
number.  The  armed  vessel  Balance  was  dispatched  by  Stuy- 
vesant to  bring  the  Mercury  to  New  Amsterdam,  where  the 
commander  was  permitted  to  discharge  his  cargo. 

JACOB  ALRICHS,  1657-59.  — COLONY  OF  CITY.  — The  ex- 
pense of  fitting  out  the  expedition  for  the  reduction  of  New 
Sweden  was  considerable,  and  had  become  a  heavy  burden 
to  the  Company.  The  city  of  Amsterdam  had  loaned  a  part 
of  the  money  thus  used ;  and  to  settle  that  claim,  the  Com- 
pany sold  to  the  city,  for  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  thousand 
gilders,  all  that  tract  of  land  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Delaware,  reaching  from  the  east  side  of  Christina  Creek  to 
the  ocean,  and  extending  back  into  the  country  to  the  lands 
of  the  Minquas.  This  sale  was' ratified  by  the  States-General 
on  the  16th  of  August,  1656,  and  the  territory  thus  ceded 
was  designated  Nieuer  Anistel.  The  government  of  this 
colony  was  vested  in  forty  commissioners,  to  reside  in  the 
city  of  Amsterdam,  by  whom  Jacob  Alrichs  was  appointed 
Director.  Forty  soldiers,  under  command  of  Captain  Martin 
Krygier  and  Lt.  Alexander  D'Hinoyossa,  and  one  hundred 
and  fifty  emigrants,  were  sent  in  three  small  vessels  to  the 
colony.  Upon  his  arrival,  Alrichs  appointed  Andreas  Hudde 
to  the  command  of  Fort  Christina,  now  called  Altona,  and 
of  New  Gottenburg ;  and  upon  his  assumption  of  power,  the 
authority  of  Jacquet  ceased. 

GCERAN  VAN  DYCK,  1657-58.— COLONY  OF  COMPANY.— 
Over  the  Swedes  and  Finns,  who  dwelt  above  the  limits  of 
the  city's  colony,.  Greran  Van  Dyck  was  appointed  to  exer- 
cise authority,  with  the  title  of  Sellout-Fiscal.  By  his  sugges- 


WILLIAM  BEEKMAN.  45 

tion,  Stuyvesant,  under  whose  orders  he  acted,  issued  a  pro- 
clamation inviting  the  Swedes  to  abandon  their  scattered 
habitations,  and  assemble  themselves  together  in  one  village. 
This  request  was  not  acceded  to;  and  the  proposition  to 
compel  obedience  to  the  mandate  was  abandoned,  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  successor  to  Van  D  vck,  who  had  discovered 
that  it  would  be  a  great  hardship  to  force  these  settlers  from 
the  lands  which  they  had  subdued  and  brought  under  culti- 
vation, and  from  the  humble  habitations  which  had  become 
endeared  to  them  by  the  struggles  they  had  endured  to 
obtain  them. 

"  Evert  Pieterson,"  says  Smith,  in  his  history  of  Delaware 
County,  "  who  held  the  office  of  schoolmaster,  comforter 
of  the  sick,  and  setter  of  the  psalms,  in  the  City  Colony, 
writes  to  the  commissioners  that,  upon  his  arrival  in  April, 
he  found  but  twenty  families  in  Nieuer  Amstel,  all  Swedes 
except  five  or  six  families.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  man 
of  observation,  and  suggests  our  black-walnut  timber  for 
making  gun-stocks;  requests  that  inquiries  be  made  of  the 
gunsmiths  in  respect  to  its  value,  and  in  w^hat  shape  it  should 
be  cut.  In  August  he  had  a  school  of  twenty-five  children. 
This  is  the  first  school  established  on  the  river  of  which  we 
have  any  account." 

The  governors  of  both  city  and  company  colonies  seem  to 
have  been  still  under  the  supervision  of  General  Director 
Stuyvesant ;  for  we  find  both  Alrichs  arid  Van  Dyek  com- 
municating with  him,  and  seeking  his  advice  and  direction. 
Stuyvesant  visited  the  colony  in  1658,  being  drawn  thither 
by  the  conflicts  of  authority  between  the  two  vice-governors, 
and  by  the  fact  that  many  things  connected  with  the  trade 
of  the  colony  needed  a  careful  inspection.  He*  was  met  by 
Van  Dyck  and  the  leading  Swedish  citizens,  who  renewed 
their  oaths  of  allegiance,  and  made  known  their  complaints 
and  wants. 

WILLIAM  BEEKMAN",  1658-63.  — COLONY  OF  COMPANY. 
Stuyvesant's  chief. purpose  in  visiting  the  colony  seems  to 


46  DUTCH  RULE. 

iiave  been  to  put  a  stop  to  smuggling,  which  had  sprung  up 
and  was  becoming  a  serious  evil.  Upon  his  return,  he  re- 
ported the  irregularities  which  he  had  discovered  to  the 
"West  India  Company,  and  recommended  that  some  com- 
petent person  be  appointed  to  have  complete  supervision  of 
the  revenues  arising  from  imports  and  trade,  both  in  the 
City's  and  the  Company's  colonies.  Accordingly,  William 
Bcekman,*  an  alderman  and  an  elder  in  the  church  at  New 
Amsterdam,  was  appointed  to  this  office,  with  the  title  of  vice- 
Di  rector  and  Commissary. 

The  year  1658  was  one  of  great  distress  in  the  colony.  A 
prevailing  sickness,  short  crops,  and  an  unsettled  state  of 
affairs  in  the  government,  bore  heavily  upon  it.  "  Continued 
s:ekness,"  says  Alrichs,  "  curbed  us  so  far  down  that  all  the 
]  ibor  in  the  field  and  agriculture  was  abandoned ; "  and  adds, 
*:  "Winter,  early,  long,  and  unexpected,  caused  great  distress." 
To  increase  this  distress,  emigrants  arrived  without  supplies. 
In  January,  1659,  the  wife  of  Alrichs  died.  The  Amsterdam 
Company,  not  satisfied  with  the  profits  of  its  investment, 
made  new  and  exacting  conditions  of  settlement,  which 
caused  much  discontent  among  the  colonists,  and  these  con- 
ditions being  imposed  at  a  time  of  grievous  afflictions,  many 

*  "  Wilhelmus  Beeckman  was  born  at  Hasselt,  in  Overyssell,  in  1623 ;  served 
the  West  India  Company  on  board  The  Princess;  settled  as  a  merchant  in  New 
Amsterdam,  in  1647 ;  was  married  to  Catalina  De  Booghs,  a  native  of  Amster- 
dam, on  tb^e  5th  of  September,  1649  ;  was  appointed  Lieutenant  of  the  Burgher 
Corps,  in  1651 ;  one  of  the  Schepens  of  New  Amsterdam,  when  that  city  was 
incorporated,  in  February,  1653,  in  which  office  he  was  continued  in  1654, 1656, 
1657,  and  1673;  Commissary  of  South  Eiver,  in  July,  1658;  Vice-Director  of 
the  same  Colony,  in  October,  1658;  Commissary  at  Esopus,  in  July,  1664; 
Burgomaster  of  New  Orange,  in  1674 ;  and  an  Alderman  of  New  York  in  1679, 
16SO,  1682,  and  J685;  and  Alderman  of  the  East  Ward  of  the  city,  from  1691 
until  1695 ;  and  died  in  1707,  aged  eighty-four  years,  leaving  six  children  — 
Marie  (wife  of  Nicholas  William  Stuyvesant),  Hendrick,  Gerardus,  Cornelia, 
Johannes,  and  Jacobus. 

"  He  was  engaged  in  business  as  a  brewer,  as  the  successor  of  Thomas  Hall, 
in  Smit's  Vly  [Pearl]  near  Beekman  Street,  'where  William  and  Beekman 
streets  still  bear  his  name;'  and  his  descendants,  widely  scattered  over  the 
country,  are  among  the  most  respectable  and  respected  of  its  inhabitants."  — 
HENRY  B.  DAWSON,  Hist.  Mag.,  1867,  358. 


ALEXANDER  D'HINOYOSSA.  47 

fled  to  the  English  settlements  in  Maryland.  Learning  from 
these  visitors  that  sore  distress  prevailed  upon  the  Delaware, 
and  judging  it  to  be  a  favorable  time  to  acquire  possession 
of  the  territory,  which  had  always  been  claimed  by  the  Eng- 
lish on  the  plea  of  discovery  by  De  la  War,  Lord  Balti- 
more, Proprietor  of  Maryland,  sent  commissioners  to  demand 
its  surrender,  or  the  submission  of  the  settlers  to  English 
rule.  This  demand  was  vigorously  resisted  by  Stuyvesant, 
to  whom  it  was  referred,  who  sent  commissioners  to  the 
Chesapeake  to  defend  the  Dutch  claims  by  argument,  while 
he  dispatched  a  company  of  sixty  soldiers  to  the  Delaware, 
to  maintain  his  power  by  force.  This  vigorous  policy  had 
the  desired  effect,  and  Lord  Baltimore  allowed  his  claim  to 
rest. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1659,  Alrichs,  after  having 
administered  the  affairs  of  the  colony  for  a  period  of  a  little 
more  than  two  years,  during  which  his  people  and  his  family 
had  been  visited  by  dire  afflictions,  was  relieved  by  death.  It 
would  appear  from  the  complaints  made  against  him  by  those 
most  intimately  associated  with  him  in  the  government,  that 
many  of  the  evils  under  which  the  colony  grieved,  were  due 
to  his  own  maladministration. 

ALEXANDER  D'HINOYOSSA,  1659-64.  -  COLONY  OF 
CITY.  —  Previous  to  his  death,  Alrichs  had  recommended  the 
appointment  of  Alexander  D'Hinoyossa,  in  whose  hands  he 
left  the  government,  as  his  successor.  This  recommendation 
was  approved  and  confirmed  by  the  commissioners.  The 
administration  of  D'Hinoyossa  was  little  less  turbulent  than 
his  predecessor's  had  been.  Conflicts  of  authority  between 
himself,  who  represented  the  City's  colony,  and  Beekman, 
who  had  charge  of  the  revenues  of  the  "West  India  Company 
from  all  the  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  were  frequent,  and 
many  complaints  were  made  to  their  respective  masters  in 
Holland.  D'Hinoyossa  refused  to  recognize  the  authority  of 
Stuyvesant  over  him,  as  his  predecessor  had  done,  claiming 
that  1m  :»nly  source  of  power,  and  consequent  accountability 


48  DUTCH  RULE. 

to,  was  the  commissioners  of  the  Company  of  the  City  of 
Amsterdam.  The  West  India  Company  claimed  jurisdiction 
over  the  commerce  of  the  entire  district,  and  insisted  upon  a 
strict  collection  of  the  revenues,  while  the  City's  colony 
sought  to  evade  the  payment.  Tired  of  these  conflicts  and 
petty  strifes,  negotiations  were  entered  into  for  the  retransfer 
of  the  Nieuer  Amstel  Colony  to  the  West  India  Company. 
Not  succeeding  in  this,  the  commissioners  of  the  city  effected 
a  new  loan,  with  the  determination  of  infusing  fresh  enterprise 
into  its  colonial  affairs.  D'Hinoyossa  seems  to  have  been 
more  successful  than  his  predecessor  in  securing  the  peace 
and  internal  quiet  of  his  little  kingdom,  and  in  making  such 
regulations  in  relation  to  trade  and  settlement  as  to  attract 
the  Swedes  from  the  territory  above  to  his  dominions.  The 
Finns,  who,  as  we  have  noticed,  had  gone  to  Maryland  to 
settle,  became  dissatisfied,  and  meditated  a  return,  and  their 
friends  who  visited  them  with  the  purpose  of  joining  them 
there,  came  back  with  evil  tidings,  and  more  firmly  resolved 
than  ever  to  abide  in  Nieuer  Amstel.  Encouraged  by  the 
favorable  turn  in  affairs,  the  commissioners  of  the  city  nego- 
tiated a  transfer  of  all  the  territory  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Delaware  to  their  dominions.  Attracted  by  the  liberal  offers 
of  aid  to  settlers  which  were  made  by  the  commissioners,  a 
new  impulse  wa,s  given  to  emigration.  A  community  known 
as  Mennomtes  resolved  to  emigrate  in  a  body.  By  the  terms 
of  their  association,  clergymen  were  riot  allowed  to  join  them, 
nor  any  "intractable  people  —  such  as  those  in  communion 
with  the  Roman  See;  usurious  Jews,  English  stiff-necked 
Quakers ;  Puritans ;  foolhardy  believers  in  the  Millennium ; 
and  obstinate  modern  pretenders  to  revelation." 

Negro  slaves  had  been  early  introduced  into  the  New 
Amsterdam  colonies,  the  use  of  which  had  been  commended 
by  the  home  companies.  At  about  this  time,  Beekman  made 
an  urgent  application  to  Stuyvesant  for  some  slaves,  and 
D'Hinoyossa,  in  a  formal  paper  addressed  to  the  commissioners, 
requested  that  a  contract  be  immediately  made  for  fifty  head 
of  slaves  to  till  the  rich  valleys  along  the  Delaware. 


ALEXANDER  D'HINOYOSSA.  49 

Intent  on  securing  the  greatest  prosperity  for  his  colony, 
and  tired  of  the  constant  clashing  of  interests  between  the 
jurisdictions  of  the  double  authority,  D'Hinoyossa  visited 
Holland  in  1603,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  for  the  City 
Company  the  entire  government  of  the  settlements  upon  the 
Delaware.  In  this  he  was  successful,  and  upon  his  return  in 
December,  Stuyvesant  made  a  formal  transfer  of  authority. 

By  this  action  Beekman  was  left  without  jurisdiction,  and 
soon  after  returned  to  New  Amsterdam,  where  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  Stuyvesant  commissary  at  Esopus,  upon  the  Hud- 
son. "While  the  two  colonies  were  kept  up,"  says  Acrelius, 
"Beekman  had  a  share  in  the  administration;  but  he  was 
little  considered.  This  made  him  envious  of  D'Hinoyossa, 
whom  he  aspersed  in  frequent  letters  to  Stuyvesant."  . 

The  Swedish  West.  India  Company  was  not  disposed 
quietly  to  submit  to  the  loss  of  its  possessions  upon  the 
Delaware.  Vigorous  remonstrances  were  made  against  the 
attitude  which  the  Dutch  Company  had  assumed,  and  de- 
mands were  made  for  the  restoration  of  their  territory.  But 
the  Dutch,  having  taken  forcible  possession,  would  yield 
nothing.  Until  1664  the  Swedes  allowed  their  claims  to  rest; 
but  in  that  year  vigorous  measures  were  planned  for  punish- 
ing their  assailants  and  repossessing  their  colony,  and  a  fleet 
bearing  a  military  force  was  fitted  out  for.the  purpose.  It 
appears  that  this  force  set  sail,  but  meeting  with  misfortunes 
upon  the  sea,  was  obliged  to  return,  and  the  project  was 
f.nally  abandoned. 

From  the  time  of  the  transfer  of  the  entire  settlements  on 
the  Delaware  to  the  Company  of  the  City  of  Amsterdam, 
D'Hinoyossa  held  undivided  authority  until  the  conquest  of 
all  New  Netherland  by  the  English,  a  period  of  nearly  ten 
months.  Upon  the  downfall  of  Dutch  rule,  D'Hinoyossa 
returned  to  Holland,  and  entered  the  army  of  the  States.  He 
served  in  the  war  between  Louis  XIV.  and  the  Republic, 
and  he  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  garrison  of  a  fortress 
which  sur-ondered  to  the  French.  He  ended  his  days  in 
Holland. 
4 


CHAPTER  IY. 

ENGLISH    KTJLE,  1664-73. 

COL.  BICHARD  NICHOLLS,  1664-67.— Conflict  between 
Dutch  and  English  rule  in  the  New  "World  was  early  de- 
veloped. Virginia  and  Maryland  had  repeatedly  claimed  the 
territory  upon  the  Delaware ;  Massachusetts  insisted  on  the 
right  of  an  indefinite  extension  of  its  territory  to  the  west ; 
and  Connecticut  not  only  claimed  the  islands  to  the  south, 
but  that,  by  the  terms  of  its  charter,  its  western  boundary 
was  the  Pacific.  Against  these  pretensions  on  all  sides,  Stuy- 
vesant  protested  vigorously,  significantly  asking,  "  "Where, 
then,  is  New  Netherland  ?  "  In  September,  1663,  seeing  the 
New  England  colonies  marching  steadily  toward  the  Hudson, 
Stuyvesant  made  a  voyage  to  Boston,  where  he  met  the  dele- 
gates of  the  United  Colonies,  and  entered  his  complaints; 
but  he  could  secure  no  concessions  or  guaranties, — the  New 
Englanders  pointing  to  their  grants  from  the  British  crown, 
and  relying  upon  its  power  for  their  vindication. 

The  English  Government  had  always  claimed  the  territory 
which  the  Dutch  had  been  permitted  to  occupy ;  and  Crom- 
well, in  his  time,  had  planned  its  recovery.  The  purpose 
had  been  renewed  in  the  time  of  his  son;  but  in  neither 
reign  had  forcible  measures  been  adopted.  Had  the  plan 
of  Dutch  colonization  been  more  vigorous,  and  its  system  of 
government  not  been  beset  with  fatal  inherent  evils,  its  con- 
quest would  have  presented  serious  diificulties.  But  the 
almost  utter  lack  of  educational  facilities,  the  exorbitant  de- 
mands of  government,  and  the  denial  of  popular  participation 
in  public  policy,  left  little  for  which  the  subjects  were  willing 
to  fight. 


COL.  RICHARD  NiCHOLLS.  51 

Charles  II.  having  ascended  the  English  throne,  granted  a 
patent,  dated  March  12th,  1664,  to  his  brother  James,  Duke 
of  York  and  Albany,  of  all  the  territory  between  the  Con- 
necticut and  the  Delaware  rivers,  and  the  islands  adjacent 
thereto,  covering  not  only  the  possessions  of  the  Dutch,  but 
portions  of  grants  previously  made  by  the  British  Crown. 
Four  armed  vessels,  led  by  the  frigate  Guinea,  were  fitted  out 
and  dispatched  with  four  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers,  under 
command  of  Col.  Richard  Mcholls,  groom  of  the  bed-chamber 
to  the 'Duke,  to  take  possession  of  the  lands  thus  conveyed. 
With  Col.  Nicholls  were  sent  Sir  Robert  Carr,  Sir  George 
Cartwright,  and  Samuel  Maverick,  Esq.,  who  were  commis- 
sioned by  the  King,  to  first  visit  the  New  England  colonies, 
and  "to  hear  and  receive,  examine  and  determine,  all  com- 
plaints and  appeals,  in  all  matters,  military,  criminal,  and 
civil,  and  proceed  in  all  things  for  the  providing  for  and 
settling  the  peace  and  security  of  the  country,  according  to 

their  discretion  and  instructions After  all  the 

ceremonies  [in  the  New  England  Colony]  are  performed, 
in  the  first  place  of  all  business,  and  before  you  enter  upon 
any  other  particular,  discourse  at  large  and  with  confidence 
to  them,  all  that  we  ourself  have  discoursed  with  you,  of 
reducing  the  Dutch  in  or  near  Long  Island,  or  anywhere 
within  the  limits  of  our  dominions,  to  an  entire  obedience 

to  our  government, they  having  no  kind  of  right 

to  hold  what  they  are  in  possession  of." 

Nicholls  steered  directly  for  Boston,,where,  upon  his  arrival, 
he  conferred  with  the  authorities  in  obedience  to  these  instruc- 
tions, and  obtained  recruits  for  the  expedition.  He  then 
sailed  for  Connecticut,  and  receiving  on  board  Governor 
Winthrop,  proceeded  to  Manhattan,  arriving  near  the  close 
of  August.  Before  opening  formal  negotiations  with  Gov- 
ernor Stuyvesant,  the  English  commissioners  issued  a  procla- 
mation to  the  people,  offering  the  most  liberal  regulations  as 
to  government,  trade,  and  commerce,  and  entire  security  to 
person  and  property,  provided  they  would  transfer  their 
allegiance  to  the  English  Crown.  The  allurements  thus  held 


52  ENGLISH  RULE. 

out  were  very  tempting,  promising  a  more  liberal  internal 
policy  than  was  afforded  under  Dutch  rule.  A  formal  do- 
mand  for  the  surrender  of  the  government  was  then  made. 
Stuyvesant  was  disposed  to  resist;  but  his  people,  with  whom 
he  had  frequently  quarrelled  before,  respecting  their  rights 
as  citizens,  were  not  disposed  to  second  him.  At  length,  see- 
ing that  he  was  powerless,  Stuyvesant,  on  the  8th  of  Septem- 
ber, yielded  to  the  demand,  and  New  Netherland  passed  under 
English  rule. 

Sir  Robert  Carr  was  immediately  dispatched  to  the  Dela- 
ware with  a  force  sufficient  to  effect  the  reduction  of  the  col- 
ony. Pursuing  a  policy  similar  to  that  adopted  by  Nicholls, 
Carr  sailed  past  the  fort,  and  addressed  himself  to  the  con- 
ciliation of  the  Swedes  and  Finns,  which  was  speedily  accom- 
plished. 

He  then  approached  the  fort  and  demanded  its  surrender. 
But  every  proposition  for  an  amicable  transfer  of  the  govern- 
ment was  rejected  by  D'Hinoyossa,  though  the  fort  was  in  no 
condition  for  resistance,  and  was  garrisoned  by  only  fifty  men. 
"  Whereupon,"  says  Carr,  "  I  landed  my  soldiers  on  Sonday 
morning  following,  and  commanded  ye  shipps  to  fall  down 
before  ye  fort  wth  muskett  shott,  wth  directions  to  fire  two 
broadsides  apeace  uppon  ye  fort,  then  my  soldiers  to  fall  on. 
Which  done  ye  soldiers  neaver  stoping  untill  they  stormed 
ye  Fort,  and  sae  consequently  to  plundering;  the  seamen, 
noe  less  given  to  that  sport,  were  quickly  wibin,  and  have 
gotten  good  store  of  booty.  The  loss  on  our  part  was  none; 
the  Dutch  had  ten  wounded  and  three  killed." 

ROBERT  NEEDHAM.  —  Maddened  by  the  resistance 
offered,  the  town  was  given  up  to  shameless  plunder.  Forty 
horses,  sixty  cows  and  oxen,  one  hundred  sheep,  and  from  sixty 
to  seventy  negroes  were  seized,  and  the  personal  possessions  of 
the  Dutch  authorities  were  appropriated  by  the  leaders,  —  Sir 
Robert  Carr  seizing  the  farm  of  D'Hinoyossa;  his  brother, 
Captain. Jofcn  Carr,  that  of  Sheriff  Van  Sweringen;  and  Ensign 
Stock  that  of  Peter  Alrichs.  This  selfish  and  unwarrantable 


COL.  FRANCIS  LOVELACE.  53 

procedure  was  discountenanced  by  Nicholls,  who  soon  after 
visited  the  Delaware,  and  appointed  Captain  Robert  Needham 
to  the  chief  command  in  that  colony,  though  retaining  in  his 
own  hands  supreme  authority  throughout  his  entire  do- 
minions. 

Before  sending  his  fleet  for  the  forcible  reduction  of  ISTew 
Netherland,  the  Duke  of  York  had  granted  to  Lord  Berkeley 
and  Sir  George  Carteret  all  that  territory  now  included  in 
the  southern  limits  of  is"ew  Jersey.  Up  to  this  time  few  set- 
tlements had  been  made  on  the  east  side  of  the  Delaware, 
and  these  had  claimed  little  attention  or  care  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

N icholls  made  a  digest  of  the  laws  which  had  been  in  force  in 
the  several  English  American  colonies,  which  were  known  as 
the  Dulie's  Laws,  and  these  he  promulgated  for  the  government 
of  his  own  territory.  His  will  was,  however,  the  supreme 
law,  as  his  counsellors  were  subservient,  and  the  judicial 
oflicers  were  of  his  own  appointment.  But  this  authority 
was  j  udiciously  exercised,  and  general  prosperity  was  assured 
during  his  administration. 

COL.  FRANCIS  LOVELACE,'  1667-1673.  —  CAPTAIN 
JOHN  CARR. —  In  May,  1667,  Kicholls  was  succeeded  by  Col. 
Francis  Lovelace,  and  early  in  the  following  year  regulations 
for  the  government  of  the  military  and  civil  authorities  upon 
the  Delaware  were  drawn  up  by  the  council  in  ISTew  York. 
By  the  terms  of  these  regulations,  a  commissioned  officer 
and  twenty  soldiers  were  provided  to  uphold  the  English 
authority  upon  the  river,  and  Captain  John  Carrwas  selected 
as  the  commissioned  officer.  For  the  maintenance  of  civil 
order,  it  was  provided  that,  as  often  as  complaint  was  made, 
the  commissioned  officer  was  to  summon  "  the  schout,  Hans 
Block,  Israel  Helm,  Peter  Rambo,  Peter  Cock,  Peter  Alrichs, 
or  any  two  of  them,  as  counsellors,  to  advise  him,  arid  deter- 
mine, by  the  major  vote,  what  is  just,  equitable,  and  neces- 
eary  in  the  case  in  question."  A  similar  commission  was  to 
decide  all  Indian  difficulties,  and  order  the  arming  of  the 


54  ENGLISH  RULE. 

inhabitants  when  necessary,  which  orders  and  summons  must 
be  obeyed.  The  counsellors  were  to  be  duly  instructed  in 
the  laws,  and  in  all  cases  of  difficulty  appeal  was  to  be  had  to 
the  superior  government  at  New  York.  Two  murders  had 
been  committed  about  this  time  by  Indians  while  maddened 
by  liquor,  whereupon  Peter  Rambo  proceeded  to  New  York, 
at  the  request  of  the  leading  men  of  the  tribe,  to  ask  that 
the  sale  of  strong  drinks  to  the  Indians  be  absolutely  pro- 
hibited. The  whole  matter  was  finally  referred  to  Carr  and 
his  commission,  whose  decision  was  to  be  final. 

In  the  year  1669,  one  Marcus  Jacobson,  known  as  the 
Long  Finn,  said  to  have  been  a  son  of  Coningsmark,  a  noted 
Swedish  General,  together  with  Henry  Coleman,  also  a  Finn, 
attempted  to  incite  insurrection  by  seditious  speech.  They 
appear  to  have  been  lawless  characters,  who  had  abandoned 
civilized  for  savage  life.  On  the  2d  of  August,  Governor 
Lovelace  issued  a  proclamation  for  their  arrest,  and  for  the 
confiscation  of  their  property,  unless  *they  gave  themselves  up 
within  fifteen  days.  The  Long  Finn  was  taken,  held  in  irons, 
tried,  convicted,  and  adjudged  worthy  of  death,  but  was 
finally  "  publicly  and  severely  whipped,  and  branded  with 
the  letter  R,  with  an  inscription  written  in  great  letters  and 
put  upon  his  breast,  that  he  received  that  punishment  for 
attempting  rebellion."  He  was  afterwards  transported  to 
Barbadoes,  where  he  was  sold.  Many  of  the  simpler  sort 
were  found  guilty,  and  it  was  ordered  that  they  be  treated 
with  "  severity,  and  such  taxes  laid  on  them  as  may  not  give 
them  liberty  to  entertain  any  other  thoughts  but  how  to  dis- 
charge them."  Coleman  was  also  apprehended  and  trans- 
ported. "  \ 

In  1671,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Captain  Carr,  sev- 
eral orders  were  made  by  the  council  in  New  York  apper- 
taining to  affairs  upon  the  Delaware.  Among  others,  it  was 
provided  that  none  except  those  who  were  licensed  should  be 
allowed  to  distil  or  to  sell  spirituous  liquors.  The  temper 
of  the  Indians  at  about  this  time  gave  cause  to  apprehend  a 
general  uprising,  and  the  people  were  warned  to  retire  into 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  CARE.  55 

the  towns,  and  every  person  between  sixteen  and  sixty  was 
ordered  to  provide  himself  with  powder  and  bullets.  For 
the  detection  of  the  Indians  who  had  committed  the  two 
murders  above  referred  to,  Peter  Alrichs  was  sent  to  New 
York,  where,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1671,  he  testified 
before  the  council  respecting  the  facts  in  the  case.  Upon  the 
return  of  Alrichs. a  conference  was  held  at  the  house  of  Peter 
Rambo,  with  the  sachems  of  the  tribes  to  which  these  Indians 
belonged,  who  promised  to  bring  in  the  murderers  within 
six  days,  dead  or  alive.  One  of  the  offenders  escaped ;  but 
the  other,  on  being  overtaken  by  one  of  his  tribe,  —  a 
friend,  —  and  told  that  the  sachems  and  his  brothers  had 
said  that  he  must  die,  requested  his  friend  to  shoot  him, 
which  was  accordingly  done,  and  his  body,  after  being  car- 
ried to  Fort  Casimir,  now  called  New  Castle,  was  hung  in 
chains. 

In  1672,  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
travelled  through  the  Delaware  country,  fording  streams  in 
his  course,  camping  out  at  night,  and  visiting  and  counselling 
with  his  followers  on  his  way.  At  New  Castle  he  was  kindly 
received  by  Captain  Carr.  "  Being  very  weary,"  he  says,  "  and 
inquiring  in  the  town  where  we  might  buy  some  corn  for  our 
horses,  the  Governor  came  into  the  street  and  invited  me 
to  his  house,  and  afterwards  desired  me  to  lodge  there,  tell- 
ing me  he  had  a  bed  for  me,  and  I  should  be  welcome." 


CHAPTER  V. 

DUTCH    RULE,   1673-74. 

A  NTHONY  COLVE,  Governor  of  New  Netherland,  1673  to 
-£*-  1674.  —  PETER  ALRICHS,  Deputy  Governor  on  west  side  of 
the  Delaware. — In  1673,  Louis  XTV.,  the  haughty  monarch 
of  France,  declared  war  against  the  Netherlands,  and  moved 
by  land  for  its  invasion  with  two  hundred  thousand  men, 
while  England,  with  a  powerful  fleet,  descended  upon  the 
Dutch  coast.  The  aged  De  Ruyter  and  the  youthful  Tromp 
led  out  the  Dutch  fleet  to  meet  the  threatened  danger,  and 
the  population,  in  a  spirit  of  unexampled  patriotism  and 
devotion,  abandoned  their  homes,  and,  cutting  the  dikes 
which  held  back  the  sea,  invited  inundation.  In  three  des- 
perate naval  battles,  fought  on  the  7th  and  14th  of  June 
and  the  21st  of  August,  De  Ruyter  held  the  English  at 
bay,  and  finally  defeated  his  adversaries.  In  the  meantime, 
a  small  Dutch  squadron,  under  the  command  of  Commodores 
Evertsen  and  Benckes,  had  been  dispatched  for  the  recovery 
of  New  Netherland.  Arriving  before  the  fort  at  New  York 
on  the  6th  of  August,  fifteen  days  before  the  last  great  naval 
engagement  upon  the  Dutch  waters,  submission  of  the  Eng- 
lish to  the  power  of  Holland  was  demanded.  Governor  Love- 
lace had  just  departed  for  New  Haven,  where  he  was  to  meet 
in  council  the  Connecticut  authorities.  The  fort  was  in 
command  of  Captain  John  Manning;  but  no  preparations 
having  been  made  for  defence,  the  English  power,  after  a 
brief  resistance,  was  surrendered  to  the  Dutch.  Captain 
Anthony  Colve,  who  was  in  command  of  the  military  forces, 
was  placed  in  supreme  authority.  Several  of  the  English 
soldiery  were  sent  prisoners  to  Holland,  and  Governor  Love- 

66 


ANTHONY  COLVE.  57 

lace  returned  with  the  squadron  to  Europe.  The  entire  ter- 
ritory of  New  Netherland,  as  it  passed  from  the  haiis  of 
Stuyvesant,  was  thus  recovered,  and,  in  honor  of  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  was  called  New  Orange. 

News  of  the  conquest  soon  reached  the  Delaware,  and 
deputies  were  immediately  dispatched  to  New  York  to  give 
in  their  adhesion  to  the  new  power.  In  return  for  this  prompt 
submission,  liberal  privileges  of  trade  and  rights  under  gov- 
ernment were  granted.  Three  courts  were  established,  one 
at  Nieuer  Amstel,  one  at  Hcern  Kill,  and  one  at  Upland,  the 
inhabitants  being  required  by  plurality  of  votes  to  nominate 
for  each,  eight  persons,  from  among  whom  justices  were 
selected  by  the  council  at  New  York.  Peter  Alrichs  was  ap- 
pointed Commander  and  Schout,  and  "Walter  "Wharton,  Sur- 
veyor. Alrichs  was  commissioned  to  administer  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  all  the  inhabitants  on  the  Delaware.  Property 
of  the  English  government  was  confiscated,  but  the  private 
possessions  of  its  officers  were  restored. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ENGLISH   RULE,  1674-81. 

SIR  EDMUND  ANDROS,  1674  to  1681.  —  CAPTAIN  ED- 
MUND CANTWELL. — Scarcely  had  the  authority  of  the  Dutch 
on  the  Delaware  been  confirmed  and  settled,  when,  on  1he 
9th  of  February,  1674,  peace  was  concluded  between  England 
and  the  Netherlands,  by  the  terms  of  which  New  Nether- 
land  was  restored  to  the  dominion  of  the  English.  That  the 
conquest  by  the  Dutch  might  in  no  way  impair  the  rights  of 
the  Duke  of  York,  King  Charles  renewed  the  grant  of  terri- 
tory as  formerly  described,  and  Sir  Edmund  Andros  was 
sent  to  repossess  the  government,  surrendered  by  Lovelace. 
Colve  yielded  his  power  amicably,  in  compliance  with  the 
terms  of  the  treaty,  to  Andros,  who,  on  the  9th  of  November, 

1674,  issued  his  first  proclamation,  reinstating  affairs  through- 
out his  dominions  as  they  were  previous  to  the  surrender. 
Edmund  Cantwell  and  William  Tom  were  dispatched  to  the 
Delaware  to  take  possession  of  the  fort  and  all  government 
property,  and  ten  justices  were  appointed,  who  were  to  "  re- 
sume their  places  as  magistrates."     Cantwell  was  commis- 
sioned Captain  arid  Schout,  and  was  empowered  to  administer 
the  official  oath  to  the  justices.     For  his  forwardness  in  vol- 
untarily  submitting  to  the   Dutch  the  year   before,  Peter 
Alrichs  was  deprived  of  his  office  of  judge,  but  was  sub- 
sequently  reinstated.     Captain    Cantwell   was   substantially 
invested  with  the  full  power  of  Deputy-Governor.     In  May, 

1675,  Governor  Andros  visited  the  Delaware,  and,  on  the 
14th  and  15th,  held  a  court  at  New  Castle,  in  which  orders 
were  made  relative  to  the  opening  of  roads,  the  regulation  of 
church  property  and  the  support  of  preaching,  the  prohibi- 

58 


CHRISTOPHER  BILL  OR  59 

tion  of  the  sale  of  liquors  to  the  Indians,  and  the  distillation 
thereof  by  the  inhabitants. 

In  1675,  the  ship  Griffith,  from  London,  with  several  fami- 
lies, arrived  in  the  Delaware,  the  passengers  settling  at  Salem, 
on  the  east  or  New  Jersey  side  of  the  river,  —  John  Fenwick, 
Edward,  Robert,  and  John  Wade,  and  Richard  Noble,  mem- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends,  being  of  the  number.  William 
Edmundson,  an  eminent  preacher  of  this  faith,  visited  the 
colony  during  the  same  year,  holding  meetings  at  Upland, 
New  Castle,  and  other  places. 

JOHN  COLLIER.  —  On  the  23d  of  September,  1676,  Cant- 
well  was  superseded  in  chief  authority  by  Captain  John 
Collier,  with  the  title  of  "  Commander  in  Delaware  River 
and  Bay,"  and  on  the  same  day  justices  of  the  peace  for  the 
severa'l  courts,  to  serve  for  the  period  of  one  year,  were  ap- 
pointed. Full  and  formal  instructions  were  issued  to  these 
by  Andros  and  his  council,  the  preamble  to  which  was  in 
these  words :  "  Whereas,  The  Last  leare  att  my  beeing  att 
Delowar  uppon  application  of  the  Inhabitants  Representing 
that  my  prdecessor  Govern'  Lovelace  had  begun  to  make 
a  Regulacon  for  the  due  administracon  of  Justice  according 
to  the  lawes  of  this  Government  pursuant  to  wich  I :  did 
appoint  some  magistrates  and  made  some  Rules  for  their  pro- 
ceeding the  leare  e'suing  or  till  further  order;  In  which 
haveing  uppon  mature  deliberation,  by  the  advyce  of  my 
Councill  made  some  alteracon,  They  are  to  Remaine  and  bee 
in  force  in  forme  following : "  Here  follow  twelve  articles 
for  the  regulation  and  government  of  the  colony.  The  list 
of  taxable  male  inhabitants  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and 
sixty  years,  made  in  the  beginning  of  1677,  for  Upland  Dis- 
trict, was  one  hundred  and  thirty-six,  and  for  New  Castle, 
three  hundred  and  seven. 

CHRISTOPHER  BILL 0 P.  —  Collier,  having  usurped 
authority  by  sitting  as  judge  of  the  court  at  New  Castle,  was 
deposed  by  Governor  Andros,  and  Captain  Christopher 


60  ENGLISH  RULE. 

Billop  was  commissioned  to  succeed  him.  In  this  year  three 
ships  arrived  from  England  with  families  of  emigrants, 
principally  Quakers,  who  settled  for  the  most  part  in  West 
Jersey,  but  a  portion  along  the  western  shore  of  Delaware. 

Berkeley  and  Carteret,  to  whom  the  Duke  of  York  had 
conveyed  New  Jersey,  finding  the  revenues  from  their  pos- 
sessions insignificant,  and  being  constantly  harassed  with 
difficulties  in  asserting  authority  over  them,  in  March,  1674, 
shortly  after  the  return  of  George  Fox  from  his  visit  to 
Friends  in  the  New  World,  sold,  for  a  thousand  pounds,  an 
undivided  part  of  their  territory,  to  John  Fenwick  in  trust 
for  Edward  Byllinge,  both  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 
The  fortunes  of  Byllinge  were  so  impaired  that  it  became 
necessary  to  assign  his  property  for  the  benefit  of  his  credi- 
tors, and  Gawen  Laurie,  William  Penn,  and  Nicholas  Lucas 
were  appointed  assignees.  Two  years  later,  disputes  between 
the  purchaser  and  proprietors  having  arisen,  a  division  was 
eifected,  by  which  Byllinge  was  put  in  possession  of  West 
New  Jersey  as  his  share  of  the  province.  In  the  discharge 
of  his  trust  as  assignee,  William  Penn  first  became  interested 
in  settlements  in  America.  In  March,  1677,  the  constitution 
of  West  New  Jersey,  a  document  drawn  with  great  care,  and 
in  a  spirit  of  unexampled  liberality,  was  promulgated.  Num- 
bers of  the  Society  of  Friends,  fleeing  from  persecution  at 
home,  sought  the  new  country. 

The  father  of  William  Penn,  an  admiral  in  the  British 
Navy,  who  had  won  distinction  in  the  conquest  of  Jamaica, 
and  in  engagements  with  the  Dutch,  had  died,  bequeathing 
to  his  son  a  claim  upon  the  English  government  for  sixteen 
thousand  pounds.  The  King,  who  was  always  harassed 
with  debts,  was  disposed  to  listen  to  any  proposal  by  which 
money  could  be  realized.  To  the  son's  application  for  large 
grants  of  land  west  of  the  Delaware,  in  payment  of  this 
claim,  a  ready  ear  was  given.  Lord  Baltimore,  proprietor  of 
Maryland,  who  was  kept  constantly  advised  of  the  designs 
of  Penn,  threw  many  obstacles  in  his  way.  But,  steadily 
pressing  his  suit,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1681,  his  desire  wa* 


CHRISTOPHER  BILL  OP,  61 

at  length  gratified.  "  After  many  waitings,  watchings,  solicit- 
iugs,  and  disputes  in  council,  my  country,"  says  Penn,  "was 
confirmed  to  me  under  the  great  seal  of  England.  God  will 
bless  and  make  it  the  seed  of  a  nation.  I  shall  have  a 'tender 
care  of  the  government,  that  it  be  well  laid  at  first."  It  em- 
braced the  territory  between  three  degrees  of  latitude  and 
five  of  longitude,  west  from  the  Delaware,  and  was  named 
Pennsylvania  by  the  will  of  the  King,  though  in  opposition 
to  the  vigorous  protest  of  Penn,  who  desired  that  it  should 
be  called  New  Wales.  In  the  preamble  to  the  royal  charter, 
the  King  states  that  he  makes  this  grant  to  Penn  on  account 
of  the  "  commendable  desire  he  expresses  to  enlarge  the 
British  empire  by  promoting  trade,  to  reduce  the  savage 
natives  by  just  and  gentle  manners  to  the  love  of  civil 
society  and  the  Christian  Religion,  and  to  transport  an  ample 
colony  to  an  uncultivated  country."  In  return  for  this  grant, 
it  is  provided  that  Penn  shall  pay  "  two  beaver-skins,  to  be 
deli  vered  at  our  castle  in  "Windsor,  on  the  first  day  of  January 
in  every  year,  and  also  the  fifth  part  of  all  gold  and  silver 
ore  which  may  happen  to  be  found." 


PART   II. 

PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT, 


68 


CHAPTER  I. 

WILLIAM    PENN,   PROPRIETOR,  1681-93. 

WILLIAM  MABKHAM,  Deputy  Governor,  June,  1681, 
to  October,  1682. — Xot  being  in  readiness  to  depart 
for  his  newly  acquired  possessions,  Penn  dispatched  his 
kinsman,  William  Markham,  armed  with  the  authority  of 
Deputy  Governor,  to  take  formal  possession,  and  rule  until  his 
arrival.  By  the  hands  of  Markham,  Penn  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  colonists  upon  the  Delaware,  advising  them  of  the 
transfer  of  authority,  and  promising  most  liberal  terms. 
"  You  are  now  fixed,"  he  says,  "  at  the  mercy  of  no  gover- 
nor who  comes  to  make  his  fortunes  great.  You  shall  be 
governed  by  laws  of  your  own  making,  and  live  a  free,  and, 
if  you  will,  a  sober  and  industrious  people.  I  shall  not  usurp 
the  right  of  any,  or  oppress  his  person.  In-  short,  whatever 
sober  and  free  men  can  reasonably  desire  for  the  security  and 
improvement  of  their  own  happiness,  I  shall  heartily  comply 
v  ith."  The  King  also  published  his  declaration,  making 
ublic  the  grant  and  its  extent,  and  directing  obedience  of 
the  inhabitants  to  the  Proprietor  and  his  deputies. 

Markham's  commission  was  given  on  the  6th  of  March, 
two  days  after  the  date  of  the  charter,  and  he  immediately 
started  for  the  province.  He  proceeded  directly  to  New 
York  to  inform  the  .  Governor,  who  then  held  sway  upon 
the  Delaware,  of  the  King's  pleasure.  Andros,  having  been 
previously  called  to  account  for  some  official  mismanage- 
ment by  an  agent  of  the  Duke  of  York,  John  Levin,  had 
departed  for  England,  leaving  Captain  Anthony  Brockholls 
in  chief  authority.  To  Brockholls,  therefore,  Markham 
delivered  the  King's  declaration,  and  from  him  received  a 


66  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

letter  addressed  to  the  justices  and  other  magistrates  acting 
within  the  limits  of  the  new  grant,  informing  them  that  the 
King's  patent  to  William  Penn  had  been  shown  him  by 
Markham,  and  been  entered  in  the  official  records  of  his 
government,  returning  them  thanks  for  their  good  service, 
and  requesting  that  they  transfer  their  allegiance  to  the  new 
proprietor.  With  this  letter,  which  was  dated  New  York, 
June  21st,  1681,  Markham  proceeded  immediately  to  the 
Delaware,  where  he  was  kindly  received  and  his  authority 
unhesitatingly  accepted.  He  was  empowered,  by  his  com- 
mission, to  call  a  council  of  nine,  over  whom  he  was  to  pre- 
side. The  attestation  of  these  councillors,  which  was  dated 
August  3d,  was  in  these 'words  :  "Wee  do  hereby  bind  our- 
selves by  our  hands  and  scales,  chat  wee  neither  act  nor  advise, 
nor  consent,  unto  anything  that  shall  not  be  according  to  our 
own  consciences  the  best  for  ye  true  and  well  Government  of 
the  said  Province."  Two  of  these  councillors  did  not  write 
their  own  names. 

Markham  also  brought  a  letter,  addressed  to  Lord  Balti- 
more, with  reference  to  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  be- 
tween the  two  provinces.  On  receipt  of  this,  Lord  Baltimore 
came  to  Upland  to  confer  with  Markham  upon  this  subject, 
when  it  was  ascertained  by  an  observation  then  taken,  that 
Upland,  the  heart  of  the  colony,  was  twelve  miles  south  of 
the  forty-first  degree  of  latitude;  whereas,  the  charter  of 
King  Charles  fixed  the  southern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania 
at  "  the  beginning  of  the  fortieth  degree,  or  at  the  end  of  the 
thirty-ninth."  This  would  have  included  the  city  of  Baltimore, 
and  even  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Washington.  Igno- 
rance of  the  geography,  on  the  part  of  the  royal  secretaries, 
had  occasioned  confusion  in  drawing  the  charters,  and  con- 
sequently Markham  could  settle  nothing.  This  attempt  at 
an  amicable  composition  was  the  beginning  of  a  controversy 
which  was  maintained  with  much  spirit  for  many  years,  and 
until  after  the  death  of  Penn.  It  was  finally  agreed,  much  in 
the  interest  of  Maryland,  to  adopt  the  segment  of  a  circle 


WILLIAM  MARKHAM.  67 

drawn  at  a  distance  of  twelve  miles  from  New  Castle,  begin- 
ning at  the  point  where  this  line  cuts  the  western  shore  of 
the  Delaware,  and  continuing  until  it  cuts  the  fortieth  degree 
and  forty-fourth  minute  of  north  latitude,  and  from  that 
point  westward  on  that  parallel,  being  fifteen  miles  south  of 
Philadelphia,  and  two  surveyors,  Thomas  Mason  and  Jere- 
miah Dixon,  were  appointed  in  1763,  to  run  the  line.  The 
names  of  these  surveyors  have  become  world-renowned,  as 
the  line  which  they  thus  established  marked  the  division  be- 
tween the  Free  and  Slave  states. 

The  last  court  held  at  Upland  under  the  government  of  the 
Duke  of  York,  adjourned  on  the  14th  of  June,  to  meet  again, 
on  the  13th  of  September,  1681;  and  on  the  latter  day  a 
court  convened,  the  justices  acting  under  commissions  issued 
by  Markham. 

The  instructions  of  the  new  governor  required  that  the 
government  should  be  administered  "  according  to  the  good 
laws  of  England."  But  the  Duke's  Laws,  which  had  pre- 
viously been  in  force  in  the  colony,  were  principally  enforced, 
without  particular  regard  to  the  niceties,  or  even  the  essen- 
tials of  English  law.  The  word  good  in  the  above-cited  pas- 
sage may  have  had  an  equivocal  meaning,  and  those  wnich 
were  thought  to  be  good  alone  have  been  adopted. 

In  the  meantime,  Penn  published  in  England  a  descrip- 
tion of  his  province,  with  particular  and  well-timed  advice  to 
those  who  would  emigrate,  especially  enjoining  upon  them 
"  to  consider  seriously  the  premises,  as  well  the  present  in- 
conveniency,  as  future  ease  and  plenty;  that  so  none  may 
move  rashly,  or  from  fickle,  but  solid  minds,  having  above 
all  things  an  eye  to  the  providence  of  God  in  the  disposal 
of  themselves." 

Late  in  this  year,  two  ships :  sent  from  England  arrived 
in  the  colony.  In  these  were  four  commissioners, — Wil- 
liam Crispin,  John  Bezer,  William  Haige,  and  Nathaniel 
Allen.  Cri^in  had  been  appointed  surveyor-general;  but 
he  having  died  on  the  passage  out,  Thomas  Holme 


68  PR OPRIETAR Y  GO  VERNMENT. 

appointed  in  his  place.  The  duties  of  these  commissioners 
were,  to  preserve  friendly  relations  with  the  Indians,  acquire 
lands  of  them,  and  survey  and  apportion  them ;  but  chiefly 
to  select  the  site  of,  and  lay  out  a  great  city.  That  he  might 
secure  the  favor  of  the  Indians,  Penn  addressed  them  a 
letter  by  the  hands  of  these  commissioners,  in  which  he  says: 
"  There  is  a  great  God  and  power,  that  hath  made  the 
world,  and  all  things  therein ;  to  whom  you  and  I,  and  all 
people  owe  their  being,  and  well-being ;  and  to  whom  you 
and  I  must  one  day  give  an  account,  for  all  that  we  do  in 
the  world.  This  great  God  hath  written  his  law  in  our< 
hearts,  by  which  we  are  taught  and  commanded  to  love,  and 
help,  and  do  good  to  one  another.  Now  this  great  God  has 
been  pleased  to  make  me  concerned  in  your  part  of  the 
world;  and  the  King  of  the  country  where  I  live,  hath  given 
me  a  great  province  therein;  but  I  desire  to  enjoy  it  with 
your  love  and  consent ;  that  we  may  always  live  together,  as 
neighbors  and  friends;  else  what  would  the  great  God  do  to 
us,  who  hath  made  us,  not  to  devour  and  destroy  one 
another,  but  to  live  soberly  and  kindly  in  the  world  ?  " 

Markham.made  a  large  purchase  of  the  Indians  on  the 
Delaware,  above  Shackamaxon,  and  for  seven  weeks  was  en- 
gaged, in  company  with  the  commissioners  and  surveyors,  in 
sounding  the  river,  and  searching  for  a  site  for  the  great  city, 
which,  by  the  instructions,  was  to  embrace  ten  thousand  acres. 
"  Be  sure  to  make  your  choice,"  says  Penn, "  where  it  is  most 
navigable,  high,  dry,  and  healthy;  that  is,  where  most  ships 
may  best  ride,  of  deepest  draught  of  water,  if  possible  to  load 
or  unload  at  the  bank  or  key's  side  without  boating  and 
lightening  of  it.  It  would  do  well  if  the  river  coming  into 
that  creek  be  navigable,  at  least  for  boats  up  into  the  country, 
and  that  the  situation  be  high,  at  least  dry  and  sound,  and  not 
swampy,  which  is  best  known  by  digging  up  two  or  three 
earths  and  seeing  the  bottom." 

Upland,  now  Chester,  had  been  in  the  mind  of  Penn  as 
the  location  which  would  be  adopted;  but  Markham  dis- 
carded this,  and  after  considering  Pennsbury  Manor,  above 


WILLIAM  PENN.  69 

Bristol,  and  the  land  on  Poquessing  Creek,  finally  settled 
upon  the  present  site  of  Philadelphia.  This  was  between 
two  rivers;  it  was  dry  and  commanding  ground;  and  the 
Delaware  was  deep,  fulfilling  all  the  requirements  of  the  Pro- 
prietor ;  but  the  area  between  the  two  rivers  was  not  suffi- 
cient for  a  city  of  ten  thousand  acres  in  a  compact  body ;  so 
a  smaller  tract  was  agreed  upon.  The  plot  extended  two 
miles  from  river  to  river,  and  one  mile  in  width.  It  was 
laid  out  in  regular  squares,  the  streets  crossing  each  other  at 
right  angles,  with  suitable  parks  and  public  grounds. 

Penn  obtained  from  the  Duke  of  York  a  deed  of  release 
for  his  Province,  and  also  two  deeds,  the  one  conveying  New 
Castle  County,  and  the  other  -the  counties  of  Kent  and  Sus- 
sex, which  three  counties  were  known  as  the  territories,  in 
distinction  from  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  and  which 
afterwards  became  the  State  of  Delaware. 

Having  completed  his  preparations,  Penn  sailed  for  the 
Delaware,  arriving  at  New  Castle  on  the  8th  of  November, 
1682,  when  he  assumed  authority. 


WILLIAM  PENN. 

[The  following  sketch  of  the  life  of  William  Penn,  the  great  founder  of  Penn- 
sylvania, has  been  prepared  expressly  for  this  work  by  Samuel  M.  Janney,  author 
of  "The  Life  of  William  Penn,"  "The  Life  of  George  Fox,"  "The  History  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,"  &c.] 

WILLIAM  PENN,  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  son 
of  Vice-Admiral  Sir  William  Penn,  a  distinguished  com- 
mander in  the  British  Navy,  and  was  born  in  the  city  of 
London,  the  14th  of  October,  1644.  His  mother  was  a  pious 
and  judicious  woman,  who  encouraged  in  her  son  those  vir- 
tuous dispositions  which,  even  in  his  childhood,  gave  the 
promise  of  future  excellence. 


70  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

In  the  year  1656,  Admiral  Penn  removed  with  his  family 
to  Ireland,  where  he  possessed  valuable  estates,  and  William, 
being  then  about  twelve  years  of  age,  diligently  pursued  his 
studies  at  home  under  the  direction  of  a  private  tutor.  At 
the  age  of  fifteen,  he  went  to  Oxford,  and  was  entered  as  a 
student  at  Christ  Church  College.  While  residing  at  Oxford, 
he  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Religious  Society  of  Friends', 
who  were  in  derision  called  "  Quakers,"  and  Thomas  Loe, 
who  formerly  belonged  to  the  University,  preached  a  sermon 
which  had  a  powerful  effect  upon  his  mind.  He  was  con- 
vinced that  the  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  Christian  religion 
were  lost  sight  of  by  most  of  its  professors,  while  their 
attention  was  occupied  by  a  round  of  lifeless  ceremonies. 
Finding  that  some  of  his  fellow-students  were,  like  himself, 
dissatisfied  with  the  established  form  of  worship,  he  united 
with  them  in  holding  meetings  for  Divine  worship,  in  which 
they  engaged  in  exhortation  and  prayer.  This  course,  and 
their  withdrawal  from  the  national  worship,  were  severely 
censured  by  the  officers  of  the  college ;  and  the  young  men 
being  withheld  by  a  sense  of  duty  from  conforming,  were 
finally  expelled.  On  his  return  to  his  home,  his  serious 
deportment  gave  great  dissatisfaction  to  his  father,  who 
feared  that  this  change  of  manners  would  blast  all  his  pros- 
pects for  worldly  honor. 

The  Admiral,  though  kind  at  heart,  was  a  stern  discipli- 
narian; he  remonstrated  in  strong  terms,  and  finding  that 
William  adhered  to  his  religious  principles,  he  expelled  him 
from  his  house.  He  was,  however,  soon  recalled,  through 
the  intercession  of  his  mother,  when  his  father  adopted  the 
expedient  of  sending  him  to  France,  in  company  with  some 
.  persons  of  rank  who  were  about  to  make  the  tour  of  Europe. 
After  a  brief  stay  in  Paris,  he  went  to  Saumur,  to  enjoy  the 
conversation  and  instruction  of  the  learned  Moses  Amyrault, 
a  Protestant  minister  and  professor  of  Divinity.  While 
residing  there,  he  read  attentively  the  early  Christian  writers 
and  other  ecclesiastical  works. 

In  the  year  1664,  he  returned  from  the  Continent,  bringing 


WILLIAM  PENN.  71 

with  him  the  polish  of  French  society,  and  leaving  behind 
him  a  portion  of  that  serious  demeanor  which  had  so  much 
displeased  his  father*  Soon  after  his  return  he  became,  at 
his  father's  suggestion,  a  student  at  Lincoln's  Inn,  in  order  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  England. 

In  the  spring  of  1666,  his  father  sent  him  to  Ireland,  and 
furnished  him  with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Sir  George 
Lane,  Secretary  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond,  who  was  then  Lord- 
Lieutenant,  and  presided  over  a  court  of  great  splendor.  He 
was  received  with  marked  attention,  and  became  a  welcome 
guest  in  that  gay  circle.  During  his  residence  there,  a  mutiny 
took  place  among  the  soldiers  in  the  garrison  of  Carrickfergus, 
and  he,  being  acquainted  with  the  use  of  arms,  joined  the 
forces  under  the  Lord. of  Arran  (second  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Ormond),  and  evinced  so  much  valor  in  quelling  the  mutiny, 
that  the  Duke  wished  to  make  him  a  captain  of  infantry. 
This  nattering  proposal  he  showed  a  willingness  to  accept ; 
but  happily  for  himself  and 'for  the  world,  his  father  inter- 
posed to  prevent  it,  and  he  was  reserved  for  a  nobler  field  of 
service  in  the  cause  of  humanity. 

About  this  time  was  painted  the  only  portrait  of  "William 
Penn  ever  taken  from  the  life.  A  copy  of  this  portrait  was 
presented  by  Granville  Penn,  author  of  the  "  Memorials  of 
Sir  William  Penn,"  to  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. It  represents  him  in  military  costume,  which  seems 
to  indicate  his  aspirations  for  martial  life. 

It  was,  however,  for  a  short  time  only  that  Penn  was  per- 
mitted to  indulge  in  visions  of  worldly  glory,  for  Divine 
Providence,  which  shapes  the  destinies  of  the  world's  bene- 
factors, was  watching  over  him,  and  the  propitious  moment 
was  nigh  at  hand  when  an  opportunity  would  be  offered  for 
his  acceptance  of  a  post  in  a  spiritual  warfare.  Being  at 
Cork  on  business,  he  heard  that  Thomas  Loe  was  to  be  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Friends  in  that  city,  and  his  affection  for  that 
eminent  minister  prompted  him  to  attend.  After  an  interval 
of  silence,  the  preacher  commenced  his  discourse  with  these 
words :  "  There  is  a  faith  which  overcomes  the  world,  antl 


72  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

there  is  a  faith  which  is  overcome  by  the  world."  On  this 
theme  he  spoke  so  impressively  that  Penn's  early  convictions 
were  revived,  and  his  sense  of  religious  duty  was  so  over- 
powering that  he  determined  to  renounce  worldly  glory  and 
devote  himself  to  the  service  of  God.  He  became  a  constant 
attendant  at  the  meetings  of  Friends,  and  was  soon'  called 
to  share  their  sufferings,  being  taken  with  others  from  a 
meeting  in  Cork  and  imprisoned. 

While  in  prison,  he  wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Orrery,  Lord 
President  of  Munster,  pleading  for  liberty  of  conscience, 
and  praying  that  a  stop  might  be  put  to  persecution  for 
religious  dissent.  This  was  his  first  essay  in  behalf  of  uni- 
versal toleration, — the  beginning  of  that  series  of  eiforts 
which,  after  more  than  twenty  years  of  arduous  conflict,  were 
crowned  with  success. 

He  was  soon  liberated,  and,  being  recalled  by  his  father, 
returned  to  his  home  in  England.  Here  he  was  subjected  to 
trials  more  severe  than  his  imprisonment  in  Ireland,  for  his 
father  could  not  tolerate  the  unflattering  mode  of  address 
adopted  by  the  Friends,  and,  after  remonstrating  strenuously 
against  it,  again  expelled  him  from  his  house. 

This  conduct  of  the  Admiral  originated  in  disappointed 
pride.  He  had  indulged  in  brilliant  prospects  of  worldly 
honor  for  his  son,  whose  promising  talents  and  remarkable 
acquirements  gave  assurance  of  success  in  political  life,  and  a 
peerage  was  believed  to  be  within  his  reach.  But  now  he 
had  renounced  all  these  prospects,  and  joined  himself  to  a 
persecuted  sect,  who  were  regarded  as  fanatics  by  the  fash- 
ionable world.  At  length  his  father,  softened,  perhaps,  by 
the  entreaties  of  his  wife,  so  far  relented  as  to  allow  him  to 
obtain  subsistence  at  home,  but  gave  him  no  open  counte- 
nance. 

Penn  became  connected  with  the  Society  of  Friends  in  the 
year  1667,  and  the  following  year  he  felt  himself  called  to 
the  gospel  ministry,  in  which  he  became  distinguished  by 
qualifications  of  a  high  order.  As  a  writer  of  religious 
works  he  soon  became  widely  known,  and  his  abilities  were 


WILLIAM.  PENN.  73 

generally  acknowledged.  Some  of  his  productions  of  this 
class  were  of  a  controversial  nature,  others  were  practical, 
and  all  were  imbued  with  his  fervent  and  devotional  spirit. 

One  of  his  tracts,  which  sprung  from  a  controversy  of  the 
Friends  with  Vincent,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  bears  the  fol- 
lowing title :  "  The  Sandy  Foundation  Shaken,  or  those  so 
generally  applauded  doctrines,  of  one  God  subsisting  in  three 
distinct  and  separate  persons;  the  impossibility  of  God's  par- 
doning sinners  without  a  plenary  satisfaction;  the  justifica- 
tion of  impure  persons  by  an  imputative  righteousness  refuted, 
from  the  authority  of  Scripture  testimonies  and  right  reason." 

This  work  gave  great  offence  to  the  clergy,  and  especially 
to  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  procured  from  the  Government 
an  order  for  Penn's  imprisonment  in  the  Tower.  During  his 
confinement,  which  lasted  eight  and  a  half  months,  he  em- 
ployed much  of  his  time  in  writing  religious  books,  one  of 
which,  entitled  "  N"o  Cross  no  Crown,"  has  been  extensively 
circulated.  He  was  visited  in  prison  by  Dr.  Stillingfleet, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  "Worcester,  who  was  sent  by  the  King 
to  endeavor  to  change  his  judgment.  "  I  told  him,"  says 
Penn,  "  and  he  told  the  King,  that  the  Tcstver  was  the  worst 
argument  in  the  world  to  convince  me ;  for,  whoever  was  in 
the  wrong,  those  who  used  force  for  religion  never  could  be 
right.  So,  neither  the  Doctor's  arguments,  nor  his  moving 
and  interesting  motives  of  the  King's  favor  and  preferment, 
at  all  prevailed." 

While  in  prison  he  wrote  a  tract  entitled  "  Innocency  with 
her  Open  Face,"  presented  by  way  of  apology  for  the  "  Sandy 
Foundation  Shaken."  This  tract  was  intended  to  explain 
some  passages  in  the  former  work.  "  One  of  the  main  ends," 
he  says,  "  which  first  induced  me  to  that  discourse,  I  find  de- 
livered by  him  (Stillingfleet),  namely :  '  If  they  did  believe 
Christ  came  into  the  world  to  reform  it,  —  that  the  wrath  of 
God  is  now  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  unrighteous- 
ness,—  that  His  love,  which- is  shown  to  the  world,  is  to 
deliver  them  from  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  that  they 
might  serve  him  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness  all  the 


74  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

days  of  their  lives,  —  they  never  could  imagine  that  salva- 
tion is  entailed  by  the  gospel  upon  a  mighty  confidence  or 
vehement  persuasion  of  what  Christ  hath  done  and  suffered 
for  them.'  Thus  doth  he  confess  upon  my  hypothesis  or 
proposition,  what  I  mainly  contend  for;  and,  however  posi- 
tively I  may  reject  or  deny  my  adversaries'  unscriptural  and 
imaginary  satisfaction,  let  all  know  this,  that  I  pretend  tc 
know  no  other  name  by  which  remission,  atonement,  and 
salvation  can  be  obtained  but  Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour,  who 
is  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God."  * 

Soon  after  the  appearance  of  this  tract  he  was  released 
from  the  Tower,  and  it  was  thought  he  owed  his  discharge  to 
the  intercession  of  the  Duke  of  York,  who  afterwards  took 
the  title  of  James  II.  This  kindness  on  the  part  of  the  Duke, 
and  his  continued  favor  after  he  became  King,  produced  in 
the  mind  of  Penn  a  sentiment  of  gratitude  and  a  personal 
attachment  which  continued  through  life,  and  subjected  him 
to  groundless  suspicion  and  persecution  after  the  fall  of  his 
royal  patron. 

In  the  year  1670,  William  Penn,  while  preaching  at  a 
Friends'  meeting^iu  London,  was  arrested  under  authority 
of  the  Conventicle  Act,  which  was  intended  to  suppress  all 
religious  meetings  conducted  "  in  any  other  manner  than 
according  to  the  liturgy  and  practice  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land." In  company  with  his  friend,  William  Mead,  of 
London,  who  was  taken  at  the  same  meeting,  Penn  was 
tried  at  the  court  called  the  Old  Bailey.  The  court  endea- 
vored to  browbeat  the  jury,  and  then  to  compel  them  by 
starvation  to  bring  in  a  verdict  according  to  its  arbitrary 
will.  Penn  and  Mead  made  their  own  defence  with  great 
ability,  and  were  acquitted  by  the  jury,  but,  being  fined  by 
the  court  for  keeping  on  their  hats,  they  were  remanded  to 
prison  for  non-payment  of  their  fines.  The  jury  were  also 
fined  "  40  marks  a  man  "  for  an  alleged  contempt  of  court, 
and,  being  sent  to  prison,  they  employed  able  counsel,  who 
brought  their  case  before  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and 
*  Perm's  Select  Works,  p.  26. 


WILLIAM  PENN:  75 

obtained  their  release.  This  trial  was  attended  with  im- 
portant results,  in  the  greater  security  and  more  firm  estab- 
lishment of  civil  liberty  in  England. 

In  the  year  1670,  Admiral  Penn,  being  on  his  death-bed, 
and  anxious  to  see  his  son,  sent  the  money  privately  to  pay 
his  fine,  and  that  of  his  companion-in-bonds.  The  meeting 
between  the  father  and  son  was  deeply  moving  to  both,  and 
the  Admiral  sent  one  of  his  friends  to  the  Duke  of  York 
with  his  dying  request,  that  he  would  endeavor  to  protect 
his  son  from  persecution,  and  use  his  influence  with  the  King 
on  his  behalf.  The  answer  was  encouraging,  both  the  King 
and  the  Duke  promising  to  comply  with  his  request. 

Sensible  of  his  approaching  end,  Admiral  Penn  addressed 
his  son  in  these  words  :  "  Son  William,  I  am  weary  of  the 
world!  I  would  not  live  over  my  days  again  if  I  could 
command  them  with  a  wish  ;  for  the  snares  of  life  are  greater 
than  the  fears  of  death.  This  troubles  me,  that  I  have 
offended  a  gracious  God.  The  thought  of  that  has  followed 
me  to  this  day.  Oh  !  have  a  care  of  sin  !  It  is  that  which 
is  the  sting  both  of  life  and  death.  Three  things  I  commend 
to  you  : 

"First.  Let  nothing  in  this  world  tempt  you  to  wrong 
your  conscience  ;  so  you  will  keep  peace  at  home,  which  will 
be  a  feast  to  you  in  the  day  of  trouble. 

"  Secondly.  Whatever  you  design  to  do,  lay  it  justly  and 
time  it  seasonably,  for  that  gives  security  and  dispatch. 

"Lastly.  Be  not  troubled  at  disappointments;  for,  if  they 
maj7  be  recovered,  do  it  ;  if  they  cannot,  trouble  is  vain. 
If  you  could  not  have  helped  it,  be  content;  there  is  often 
peace  and  profit  in  submitting  to  Providence  ;  for  afflictions 
make  wise.  If  you  could  have  helped  it,  let  not  your  trouble 
exceed  instruction  for  another  time.  These  rules  will  carry 
you  with  firmness  and  comfort  through  this  inconstant 


At  his  father's  death,  William  Penn  came  into  possession 
of  an  ample  estate,  affording  an  annual  income  of  fifteen 
hundred  pounds.  This  enabled  him  to  contribute  liberally  to 


76  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

charitable  purposes,  and  there  is  abundant  evidence  to  show, 
that  throughout  life  he  made  use  of  his  wealth  for  the  benefit 
of  others,  rather  than  to  promote  his  own  ease  or  indulgence. 

About  the  time  of  his  father's  death  Penn  wrote  and  pub- 
lished a  tract  called  "  A  Seasonable  Caveat  against  Popery," 
being  an  answer  to  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  An  Explanation 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Belief."  In  this  tract  he  treats  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  doctrines  relative  to  the  Scriptures,  the 
Trinity,  prayer  to  saints  and  angels,  justification  by  merits, 
the  eucharist,  prayers  in  Latin,  and  for  the  dead,  &c. ;  show- 
ing that,  for  many  of  their  principles  and  practices,  there  is 
no  authority  in  the  Scriptures,  nor  in  the  example  of  the  prim- 
itive Church.  Although  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  caution 
the  public  against  the  inroads  of  Catholic  doctrines,  yet  he 
declares,  in  his  introductory  remarks,  that  nothing  is  further 
from  his  purpose  than  "incensing  the  civil  magistrate  against 
them  (were  such  a  thing  possible),  for  he  was  himself  a  friend 
to  an  universal  toleration  of  faith  and  worship."  Notwith- 
standing this  tract,  and  many  other  passages  in  his  writings, 
showing  his  strong  opposition  to  Papal  doctrines,  he  was  fre- 
quently accused  of  being  a  Catholic,  and  even  a  Jesuit,  in 
order  to  raise  a  popular  prejudice  against  him. 

In  the  same  year,  he  was  committed  a  second  time  to  New- 
gate prison  for  preaching  at  a  Friends'  meeting.  During  the 
six  months  that  he  was  immured  in  that  loathsome  abode  of 
misery  and  crime,  he  employed  much  of  his  time  in  writing 
on  religious  subjects.  One  of  the  most  important  of  his 
tracts,  then  produced  is  entitled,  "The  Great  Cause  of  Liberty 
of  Conscience  once  more  briefly  Debated  and  Defended  by 
the  Authority  of  Reason,  Scripture,  and  Antiquity." 

In  1672,  being  in  the  28th  year  of  his  age,  he  married 
Gulielma  Maria  Springett,  daughter  of  Sii*  William  Springett, 
formerly  of  Darling,  in  Sussex,  who  was  killed  in  the  Civil 
"War  at  the  siege  of  Bamber.  She  was  beautiful  in  parson, 
and  was  esteemed  a  woman  of  extraordinary  merit  and  great 
sweetness  of  temper.  Penn  considered  it "  a  match  of  Provi- 
dence's making,"  and  says,  "  She  loved  me  with  a  deep  and 


WILLIAM  PENN.  77 

apright  love,  choosing  me  before  all  her  many  suitors."  Soon 
after  their  marriage  they  went  to  live  at  Rickmansworth,  in 
Hertfordshire. 

In  the  year  1676  Penn  was  engaged,  with  others,  in  fram- 
ing a  constitution  for  the  colony  of  West  New  Jersey.  The 
province  of  New  Jersey  was  divided  by  a  deed  of  partition, 
signed  by  Sir  George  Carteret  on  the  one  part,  to  whom  was 
conveyed  the  eastern  section  bordering  on  the  Atlantic,  and 
by  Edward  Byllinge,  William  Penn,  Gawen  Lourie,  and 
Nicholas  Lucas,  Trustees,  on  the  other  part,  to  whom  was 
assigned  the  western  section  bordering  on  the  Delaware. 
The  Trustees,  of  whom  Penn  appears  to  have  been  the  lead- 
ing spirit,  wrote  to  the  colonists  concerning  the  Constitution 
in  these  words :  "  Here  we  lay  a  foundation  for  after  ages  to 
understand  their  liberty  as  men  and  Christians,  that  they 
may  not  be  brought  in  bondage  but  by  their  own  consent ; 
for  we  put  the  power  in  the  people,  that  is  to  say,  they  to  meet 
and  choose  one  honest  man  for  each  propriety  who  hath  sub- 
scribed the  concessions  [or  Constitution] ;  all  these  men  to  meet 
in  an  assembly,  there  to  make  and  repeal  laws,  to  choose  a  gov- 
ernor or  a  commissioner,  and  twelve  assistants,  to  execute  the 
laws  during  pleasure ;  so  every  man  is  capable  to  choose  or  be 
chosen.  No  man  to  be  arrested,  condemned,  imprisoned,  or 
molested  in  his  estate  or  liberty  but  by  twelve  men  of  the 
neighborhood;  no  man  to  lie  in  prison  for  debt,  but  that  his 
estate  satisfy  as  far  as  it  will  go,  and  be  set  at  liberty  to  work; 
no  person  to  be  called  in  question  or  molested  for  his- con- 
science, or  for  worshipping  according  to  his  conscience."  * 

Under  the  management  of  Penn  and  his  associates,  the 
colony  of  West  New  Jersey  was  prosperous.  Colonists, 
mostly  Friends,  arrived  in  considerable  numbers,  and  the 
Indians,  being  kindly  and  justly  dealt  writh,  proved  to  be 
excellent  neighbors. 

In  the  same  province,  ten  yeara  before,  the  statutes  of 
Carteret  and  Berkeley  required  each  colonist  to  provide 
himself  with  a  good  musket,  powder,  and  balls;  but  now  the 

*  Smith's  Hist,  of  N.  J.,  p.  81. 


78  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Friends  came  among  their  red  brethren  armed  only  with  the 
weapons  of  the  Christian's  warfare, —  integrity,  benevolence, 
and  truth  ;  they  met  them  without  fear  or  suspicion,  trusting 
in  that  universal  principle  of  light  and  life  which  visits  all 
minds,  and  would,  if  not  resisted,  bind  the  whole  human 
family  in  one  harmonious  fraternity. 

The  experience  gained  by  Penn  in  framing  the  government 
of  New  Jersey,  and  the  information  he  acquired  concerning 
the  adjacent  territories,  prepared  him  for  that  great  enter- 
prise of  founding  a  colony  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Dela- 
ware, which  proved  to  be  the  crowning  achievement  of  his 
useful  and  eventful  life.  He  inherited  from  his  father  a  claim 
on  the  British  Government  for  money  advanced  and  services 
rendered,  to  the  amount  of  sixteen  thousand  pounds ;  and  in 
the  year  1680,  petitioned  Charles  II.  to  grant  him,  inJieu  of 
this  sum,  a  tract  of  country  in  America,  lying  north  of  Mary- 
land, "  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Delaware  river,  on  the 
west  limited  as  Maryland,  and  northward  to  extend  as  far  as 
plantable." 

The  object  of  this  enterprise  was  to  provide  a  peaceful 
home  for  the  persecuted  members  of  his  own  Society,  and  an 
asylum  for  the  oppressed  of  every  nation  ;  where  the  pure 
and  peaceable  principles  of  Christianity  might  be  carried  out 
in  practice. 

'After  many  delays,  he  had  the  gratification  to  learn  that 
his  patent  was  prepared  for  the  royal  signature,  which  was  af- 
fixed. to.it  under  date  of  the  4th  of  March,  1681,  the  name 
of  Pennsylvania  being  chosen  by  the  King. 

Within  a  month  from  the  date  of  the  charter,  the  King 
issued  a  declaration,  stating  the  grant  that  had  been  made  to 
Penn,  and  requiring  all  persons  settled  in  the  Province  to 
yield  obedience  to  him  as  absolute  proprietor  and  governor. 

About  the  same  time,  Penn  addressed  a  letter  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Province,  in  which  he  says:  "  These  are  to  let 
you  know  that  it  hath  pleased  God,  in  his  providence,  to  cast 
you  within  my  lot  and  care.  It  is  a  business  that,  though  I 
never  undertook  before,  yet  God  hath  given  me  an  under- 


WILLIAM  PENN.  79 

t 

standing  of  my  duty  and  an  honest  mind  to  do  it  uprightly. 
I  hope  you  will  not  be  troubled  at  your  change  and  the 
King's  Choice,  for  you  are  now  fixed  at  the  rnercy  of  no  gov- 
ernor that  comes  to  make  his  fortune  great.  You  shall  be 
governed  by  laws  of  your  own  making,  and  live  a  free,  and,  if 
you  will,  a  sober  and  industrious  people.  I  shall  not  usurp 
the  right  of  any  or  oppress  his  person.  God  has  furnished 
me  with  a  better  resolution,  and  given  me  his  grace  to 
keep  it." 

This  letter,  with  the  King's  declaration,  was  taken  to  the 
Province  by  Sir  William  Markham,  a  cousin  of  the  Proprie- 
tary,  who  was  commissioned  to  act  as  Deputy  Governor.  Cap 
tain  Markham  arrived  at  New  York  on  the  21st  of  June,  where 
he  obtained  an  order  from  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  that 
Province  for  the  surrender  of  the  territory  embraced  in  the 
charter  of  Pennsylvania,  which  had  previously  been  under 
his- jurisdiction. 

Having  taken  these  measures  to  secure  his  title  to  the  Prov- 
ince, Penn  drew  up  a  description  of  it  from  the  best  infor- 
mation he  then  possessed,  and  issued  proposals  for  its  coloni- 
zation. The  conditions  on  which  land  might  be  taken  up 
were  as  follows  :  Those  who  wish  to  buy  shares  in  the  Prov- 
ince can  have  5000  acres  for  £100,  and  to  pay  annually  one 
shilling  quit-rent  for  each  hundred  acres,  the  quit-rent  not  to 
begin  till  1684,  Those  who  only  rent  are  to  pay  one  penny 
per  acre,  not  to  exceed  200  acres.  Persons  who  take  over 
servants  are  to  be  allowed  50  acres  per*  head,  and  50  acres  to 
every  servant  when  his  time  is  expired. 

The  conditions  agreed  upon  between  the  Proprietary  and 
some  of  the  principal  purchasers  who  were  to  be  engaged  with 
him  in  the  enterprise,  evinced  an  earnest  desire  that  justice 
should  be  done  to  the  Indians.  From  the  King,  Penn  had 
purchased  "  the  right  of  undisturbed  colonizing,"  but  he 
looked  upon  the  Indians  as  the  rightful  owners  of  the  soil, 
except  that  portion  of  it  which  they  had  voluntarily  relin- 
quished by  treaty. 

The  conditions  :>r  "  concessions "  are  dated  the  llth  of 


80  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

July,  1681,  and  consist  of  twenty  articles.  The  first  ten  re- 
late to  the  survey  of  a  city,  "  In  the  most  convenient  place 
upon  the  river  for  health  and  navigation,  the  apportionment 
of  city  lots  to  country  purchasers,  the  laying  out  of  roads,  and 
the  working  of  mines.  In  the  remaining  articles,  regulations 
are  established  for  dealing  with  the  natives.  Goods  sold  to 
them  or  exchanged  for  furs,  were  to  be  exhibited  in  open 
market,  in  order  that  imposition  might  be  prevented^  or 
frauds  detected  ;  no  colonist  was  allowed  to  affront  or  wrong 
an  Indian,  without  incurring  the  same  penalty  as  if  committed 
.against  his  fellow-planter;  all  differences  between  Indians 
and  colonists  were  to  be  settled  by  a  jury  of  twelve  men, 
six  of  whom  should  be  Indians  ;  and  the  natives  were  to  have 
all  the  privileges  of  planting  their  grounds  and  providing  foi 
their  families  enjoyed  by  the  colonists." 

Penn  was  at  this  time  offered  very  advantageous  terms  for  a 
monopoly  of  the  Indian  trade  in  his  Province,  but  he  declined 
the  proposition,  from  a  belief  that  such  a  transfer  would  be 
a  dereliction  of  his  duty  to  God.  Writing  to  a  friend,  he  says : 
*'  I  would  not  abuse  His  love,  nor  act  unworthy  of  His  provi- 
dence, and  so  defile  what  came  to  me  clean." 

In  the  Spring  of  1682,  Penn  was  actively  engaged  in  pre- 
parations for  his  voyage  to  America,  and  in  drafting  a  frame 
of  government  for  his  infant  colony.  The  admirable  consti- 
tution and  code  of  laws  prepared  in  England,  with  the  view 
of  being  submitted  to  the  colonists  of  Pennsylvania,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  originated  with  the  Proprietary ;  but  there  were 
among  the  Friends  concerned  with  him  in  the  enterprise 
several  persons  of  enlarged  minds  and  liberal  ideas,  who  per- 
formed an  important,  though  subordinate,  part  in  that  great 
work. 

The  frame  of  government  agreed  upon  in  England  is  dated 
the  25th  of  April,  1682.  It  was  published  the  following 
month,  accompanied  by  a  preface  explanatory  of  the  general 
principles  of  government  It  was  afterwards  modified  in 
form,  but  its  distinctive  features  are  still  found  in  the  Consti- 
tution of  Pennsylvania,  and  have  exercised  a  salutary  influence 


WILLIAM  PENN.  81 

on  the  legislation  of  other  States,  as  well  as  in  the  formation 
of  the  Federal  Union.  The  great  principle  of  religious 
liberty  had  before  been  proclaimed  in  Rhode  Island  and  in 
Maryland  ;  it  was  reserved  for  Penn  only  to  give  it  a  clearer 
expression  and  a  wider  field  of  action.  The  privilege  allowed 
to  every  man,  of  worshipping  God  according  to  the  dictates 
of  his  own  conscience,  is  not  placed  on  the  ground  of  humane 
toleration,  but  established  as  an  inherent  right. 

In  his  penal  code,  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania  was  far  in 
advance  of  his  age.  He  looked  upon  reformation  as  the  great 
end  of  retributive  justice,  and,  in  pursuance  of  this  id^a,  ex- 
empted from  the  death-penalty  about  two  hundred  offences 
which  were  capitally  punished  by  the  English  law.  He  wisely 
observed,  "  They  weakly  err  who  think  there  is  no  other  use 
of  government  than  correction,  which  is  the  coarsest  part 
of  it."  To  provide  the  means  of  a  good  education  for  every 
child,  and  to  see  that  all  are  taught  some  useful  trade  or  pro- 
fession, would  do  more  to  promote  peace  and  happiness  than 
all  the  machinery  of  courts  and  prisons. 

There  was  one  defect  in  the  Constitution  of  Pennsylvania, 
which  was  beyond  the  power  of  Penn  .to  avoid  or  remedy. 
He  held  the  Province  as  a  fief  from  the  Crown ;  he  was  a 
feudal  sovereign,  acting  as  the  executive  of  a  democracy;  and 
these  two  elements  were  found  incompatible.  His  sweetness 
of  temper  and  weight  of  character  enabled  him,  while  in  the 
Province,  to  maintain  the  balance  of  power;  but  in  his  ab- 
sence, no  deputy  could  be  found  to  supply  his  place  ;  and  to 
this  cause  may  be  attributed  many  of  the  dissensions  that 
afterwards  arose.  When  we  take  into  view  that  his  Constitu- 
tion was  then  unparalleled  for  its  excellence,  and  that  he  ever 
showed  a  willingness  to  alter  it  in  accordance  with  the  wants 
and  capacities  of  the  people,  we  shall  find  no  other  legislator 
in  ancient  or  modern  times,  who  so  richly  merits  the  gratitude 
of  posterity. 

Penn,  after  much  negotiation,  obtained  from  the  Duke  of 
York  two  deeds  of  feoffment,  dated  the  24th  of  August,  1682, 
by  one  of  which  he  conveyed  the  town  of  New  Castle  and 
6 


82  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

the  country  lying  within  a  circle  of  twelve  miles  about  it,  and 
by  the  other  he  conveyed  all  the  land  on  Delaware  Bay, 
from  twelve  miles  south  of  New  Castle  to  Cape  Ilenlopen. 
These  Territories,  which  now  form  the  State  of  Delaware, 
were  to  be  held  "  in  free  and  common  socage ;  "  and  he  was 
to  pay  to  the  Duke,  for  the  first,  the  yearly  rent  of  five  shil- 
lings ;  and  for  the  second,  "  one  rose  at  the  feast  of  St.Michael 
the  Archangel,"  yearly,  if  demanded,  together  with  a  "  moiety 
of  all  the  rents  and  profits  thereof." 

Having  made  his  arrangements  for  a  passage  to  Pennsylva- 
nia in  the  ship  Welcome,  Greenway,  master,  Penn  addressed  a 
touching  and  instructive  letter  to  his  wife  and  children,  and 
embarked  at  Deal,  in  company  with  about,  one  hundred  pas- 
sengers, mostly  Friends,  from  Sussex,  where  his  house  at 
Worminglmrst  was  seated. 

During  the  passage  the  small-pox  made  its  appearance  with 
great  virulence,  and  occasioned  much  distress.  One  of  the 
passengers  writing  of  the  voyage,  says :  "  The  good  conver- 
sation of  William  Penn  was  very  advantageous  to  all  the  com- 
pany. His  singular  care  was  manifested  in  contributing  to 
the  necessities  of  many  who  were  sick  of  the  small-pox  then 
on  board,  of  trhich  about  thirty  died."  They  came  within 
the  Capes  on  the  24th  of  October,  1682,  and  arrived  before 
the  town  of  New  Castle  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month. 

Penn  was  joyfully  welcomed  by  the  inhabitants,  whom  he 
called  together  at  the  Court-House,  where  he  explained  to 
them  the  nature  of  the  government  he  came  to  establish, 
and  received  from  the  magistrates  written  pledges  of  fidelity 
and  obedience. 

On  his  arrival  at  Upland,  he  changed  its  name  to  Chester, 
and  tradition  relates  that  he  proceeded  thence  with  some  of 
his  friends,  in  an  open  boat,  up  the  river  Delaware.  After 
passing  four  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Schuylkill,  they 
came  to  a  place  called  Coaquannock,  where  there  was  a  high 
bold  shore,  covered  with  lofty  pines.  Here  the  site  of  the 
infant  city  of  Philadelphia  had  been  established,  and  the  Pro- 
prietary was  welcomed  by  the  old  inhabitants,  Swedes  and 


WILLIAM  PENK  83 

Dutch,  with  some  of  the  Friends  who  had  gone  before  him, 
and  anxiously  awaited  his  arrival. 

After  viewing  the  site  chosen  for  the  city,  giving  such  di- 
rections for  building  as  he  thought  expedient,  and  attending 
some  meetings  of  Friends,  Penn  went  to  New  York,  "to  pay 
his  duty  to  the  Duke  of  York  by  visiting  his  province." 

He  returned  from  this  journey  towards  the  end  of  No- 
vember, and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  at  this  time 
that  he  held  the  treaty  of  amity  with  the  Indians,  which  has 
been  so  widely  celebrated  as  the  u  Great  Treaty,"  under  the 
elm-tree  at  Kensington, —  a  transaction  which  has  been  illus- 
trated by  the  pencil  of  West,  and  has  received  the  highest 
praise  from  historians.  It  appears  that  there  were  at  least 
three  Indian  tribes  present:  the  Lenni  Lenape,  living  near 
the  banks  of  the  Delaware ;  the  Mingoes,  a  tribe  sprung  from 
the  Iroquois,  and  settled  at  Conestoga ;  and  the  Shawanees, 
a  southern  tribe  that  had  removed  to  the  Susquehanna. 

It  is  believed  that  Governor  Penn  was  accompanied,  as 
usual,  by  some  members  of  his  Council,  as  well  as  his  secre- 
tary and  surveyor.  Tradition  relates  that  a  number  of  prom- 
inent Friends  were  present,  among  whom  was  an  ancestor 
of  Benjamin  West,  whose  portrait  is  introduced  by  the  artist 
into  his  celebrated  painting  of  the  treaty-scene.  We  must 
not  take  our  idea  of  Penn's  appearance  from  West's  picture, 
in  which  he  is  represented  as  a  corpulent  old  man ;  for  at  that 
time  he  was  in  the  prime  of  life,  being  only  thirty-eight 
years  of  age,  strong  and  active,  graceful  in  person,  and  pleas- 
ing in  manners. 

Under  the  wide-branching  elm,  the  Indian  tribes  were  as- 
sembled, all  unarmed ;  for  no  warlike  weapon  was  allowed  to 
mar  the  scene.  In  front  were  the  chiefs,  with  their  counsel- 
lors and  aged  men  on  either  hand.  Behind  them,  in  the  form 
of  a  half-moon,  sat  the  young  men  and  some  of  the  aged  ma- 
trons ;  while  beyond,  and  disposed  in  still  widening  circles, 
were  seen  the  youth  of  both  sexes.  Among  the  assembled 
chiefs,  there  was  one  who  held  a  conspicuous  rank,  —  the 
Great  Sachem,  Taminend,  one  of  Nature's  noblemen,  revered 
for  his  wisdom  and  beloved  for  his  goodness. 


84  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

"When  Perm  and  his  associates  approach  the  council-fire, 
Taminend  puts  on  his  chaplet,  surmounted  by  a  small  horn, 
the  emblem  of  kingly  power,  and  then,  through  an  inter- 
preter, he  announces  to  the  Proprietary  that  the  nations  are 
ready  to  hear  him. 

Being  thus  called  upon,  he  begins  his  speech  :  "  The  Great 
Spirit,"  he  says,  "  who  made  me  and  you,  who  rules  the 
heavens  and  the  earth,  and  who  knows  the  innermost 
thoughts  of  men,  knows  that  I  and  my  friends  have  a  hearty 
desire  to  live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  you,  and  to  serve 
you  to  the  utmost  of  our  power.  It  is  not  our  custom  to  use 
hostile  weapons  against  our  fellow-creatures,  for  which  reason 
we  have  come  unarmed.  Our  object  is  not  to  do  injury,  and 
thus  provoke  the  Great  Spirit,  but  to  do  good. 

"  "We  are  met  on  the  broad  pathway  of  good  faith  and  good 
will,  so  that  no  advantage  is  to  be  taken  on  either  side,  but 
all  to  be  openness,  brotherhood,  and  love."  Here  the  Gov- 
ernor unrolls  a  parchment,  containing  stipulations  for  trade 
and  promises  of  friendship,  which,  by  means  of  an  interpreter, 
he  explains  to  them,  article  by  article ;  and  placing  it  on  the 
ground,  he  observes  that  the  ground  shall  be  common  to  both 
people.  He  then  proceeds :  "  I  will  not  do  as  the  Maryland- 
ers  did,  that  is,  call  you  children  or  brothers  only;  for  parents 
are  apt  to  whip  their  children  too  severely,  and  brothers  some- 
times will  differ ;  neither  Avill  I  compare  the  friendship  be- 
tween us  to  a  chain,  for  the  rain  may  rust  it,  or  a  tree  may 
fall  and  break  it;  but  I  will  consider  you  as  the  same  flesh 
and  blood  with  the  Christians,  and  the  same  as  if  one  man's 
body  were  to  be  divided  into  two  parts." 

Tliis  speech  being  listened  to  by  the  Indians  in  perfect 
silence  and  with  much  gravity,  they  take  some  time  to  delib- 
erate, and  then  the  king  orders  one  of  his  chiefs  to  speak  to 
William  Penn. 

The  Indian  orator  advances,  and,  in  the  king's  name,  salutes 
him ;  then  taking  him  by  the  hand,  he  makes  a  speech,  pledg- 
ing kindness  and  good  neighborhood,  and  that  the  Indians 
and  English  must  live  in  love  as  long  as  the  sun  and  moon 
shall  endure. 


WILLIAM  PENN.  85 

This  treaty  contained  no  contract  for  land ;  its  pre-eminent 
importance  consists  in  this, — it  was  the  first  time  that  William 
Peun  had  met  the  Indian  chiefs  in  council,  to  make  with  them 
the  firm  league  of  friendship  which  was  never  violated,  and 
gave  rise  to  a  kindly  intercourse  between  the  Friends  and  the 
aborigines,  which  continues  to  this  day.  It  was  like  laying  the 
corner-stone  of  a  great  edifice,  whose  enduring  strength  and 
beautiful  proportions  have  called  forth  the  admiration  of  suc- 
ceeding ages.  The  whole  conduct  of  Penn  towards  the  In- 
dians was  founded  in  justice  and  love  ;  he  not  only  paid  them 
for  their  lands,  but  employed  every  means  in  his  power  to 
promote  their  happiness  and  moral  improvement. 

The  Indians,  on  their  part,  treated  the  colonists  in  the  most 
hospitable  manner,  supplying  them  frequently  with  venison, 
beans,  and  maize,  and  refusing  compensation.  For  Penn 
they  felt,  and  often  expressed  the  utmost  confidence  and 
esteem.  So  great  was  the  reverence  inspired  by  his  virtues, 
that  his  name  was  embalmed  in  their  affections,  and  handed 
down  to  successive  generations.  Heckewelder,  in  his  history 
of  the  Indian  nations,  speaks  of  the  care  they  took,  by  means 
of  strings  or  belts  of  wampum,  to  preserve  the  memory  of 
their  treaties,  and  especially  those  they  made  with  William 
Penn.  He  says :  "  They  frequently  assembled  together  in  the 
woods,  in  some  shady  spot,  as  nearly  as  possible  similar  to 
those  where  they  used  to  meet  their  brother  Miquon  (Penn), 
and  there  lay  all  his  words  and  speeches,  with  those  of  his 
descendants,  on  a  blanket  or  clean  piece  of  bark,  and  with 
great  satisfaction  go  successively  over  the  whole.  This  prac- 
tice, which  I  have  repeatedly  witnessed,  continued  until  the 
year  1780,  when  disturbances  which  took  place  put  an  end  to 
it,  probably  forever." 

The  name  of  Onas  was  given  to  William  Penn  by  the  Iro- 
quois,  whom  the  Proprietary,  and  generally  the  English  Colo- 
nial Governments,  supported  in  their  claim  of  superiority 
over  the  other  Indian  tribes.  It  seems  that  the  Delawares 
adopted  the  name,  at  least  in  their  public  speeches;  but 
among  themselves  they  called  him  in  their  own  language  — 


<J6  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Miquon.  Both  these  words  signify  a  quill  or  pen.  j.t  is  cer- 
tain that  no  other  man  ever  attained  so  great  an  influence  over 
their  minds ;  and  the  affectionate  intercourse  between  them 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania,  which  continued  as  long 
as  the  principles  of  the  first  colonists  preserved  their  ascen- 
dency, is  the  most  beautiful  exemplification  afforded  by  his- 
tory that  the  peaceable  doctrines  of  Christ  are  adapted  to 
promote  the  security  and  happiness  of  man. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  1682,  a  General  Assembly  met  at 
Chester,  composed  of  representatives  from  the  province  of 
Pennsylvania  and  the  three  Lower  Counties  called  the  Terri- 
tories. At  this  session  w^as  passed  the  "  Great  Law,"  or  code 
of  laws,  consisting  of  sixty-nine  sections,  which  long  formed 
the  basis  of  jurisprudence  in  Pennsylvania.  It  embraces  most 
of  the  laws  agreed  upon  in  England,  anfl  some  others  after- 
wards suggested.  Among  the  latter  is  a  clause,  attributed  to 
the  Proprietary,  requiring  the  estates  of  intestates  to  go  to  the 
wife  and  children;  which,  by  abrogating  the  English  law  of 
primogeniture,  was  instrumental  in  promoting  that  general 
equality  of  condition  and  division  of  property  deemed  so 
essential  in  a  republican  government. 

The  first  section  of  this  code  has  been  much  admired,  and 
is  here  subjoined,  viz.  : 

"  Almighty  God  being  only  Lord  of  conscience,  Father  of 
lights  and  spirits,  and  the  author  as  well  as  the  object  of  all  Di- 
vine knowledge,  faith,  and  worship;  who  only  can  enlighten 
the  mind  and  persuade  and  convince  the  understanding  of 
people  in  due  reverence  to  his  sovereignty  over  the  souls  of 
mankind ;  It  is  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  no 
person  now,  or  at  any  time  hereafter,  living  in  this  province, 
who  shall  confess  and  acknowledge  one  Almighty  God  to  be 
the  Creator,  upholder  and  ruler  of  the  world,  and  that  pro- 
fesseth  him  or  herself  obliged  in  conscience  to  live  peaceably 
and  justly  under  the  civil  government,  shall  in  any  wise  be 
molested  or  prejudiced  for  his  or  her  conscientious  persuasion 
or  practice;  nor  shall  he  or  she  at  any  time  be  compelled  to 
frequent  or  maintain  any  religious  worship-place  or  ministry 
whatever,  contrary  to  his  or  her  mind,  but  shall  freely  and 
fully  enjoy  his  or  her  Christian  liberty  in  that  respect  without 


WILLIAM  PENN.  87 

uny  interruption  or  reflection ;  and  if  any  person  shall  abuse 
or  deride  any  other  for  his  or  her  different  persuasion  and 
practice  in  matters  of  religion,  such  shall  be  looked  upon  as 
a  disturber  of  the  peace,  and  be  punished  accordingly. 

"But  to  the  end  that  looseness,  irreligion,  and  atheism 
may  not  creep  in,  under  pretence  of  conscience,  in  this 
province : 

"Be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  ac- 
cording to  the,  good  example  of  the  primitive  Christians,  and 
for  the  ease  of  the  creation,  every  first-day  of  the  week,  called 
the  Lord's  Day,  people  shall  abstain  from  their  common  toil, 
and  labor,  that  whether  masters,  parents,  children,  or  servants, 
they  may  the  better  dispose  themselves  to  read  the  Scrip- 
tures of  truth  at  home,  or  to  frequent  such  meetings  of 
religious  worship  abroad  as  may  best  suit  their  respective 
persuasions." 

After  a  session  of  four  days,  the  Assembly  adjourned, 
affording  an  example  of  unanimity  and  dispatch  seldom 
equalled. 

In  the  spring  of  1683  Penn  met  the  Provincial  Council  at 
Philadelphia,  and  the  Assembly  two  days  afterwards.  The 
number  of  councillors  and  representatives  required  by  the 
charter  being  found  larger  than  necessary,  a  joint  committee 
of  the  two  Houses  was  appointed  to  draft  a  new  charter ; 
which  -being  done,  it  was  read  in  Council,  the  members  of 
the  Assembly  being  present ;  and  after  some  debate,  it  was 
agreed  to,  and  signed  by  the  Governor,  to  whom  the  old 
chartei  was  returned,  with  "  the  hearty  thanks  of  the  whole 
House.''  The  second  charter  embraced  the  same  principles  as 
the  first,  and  much  of  it  was  in  the  same  language.  The 
number  of  delegates  from  each  county  was  reduced  to  three 
for  the  Council  and  six  for  the  Assembly,  with  the  privi- 
lege of  each  House  being  enlarged  with  the  increase  of  in- 
habitants. 

By  one  of  the  acts  passed  at  this  time,  provision  was  made 
for  the  appointment,  at  every  County  court,  of  three  peace- 
makers, in  the  nature  of  common  arbitrators,  to  hear  and  de- 
termine all  differences  between  individuals. 

In  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  Governor's   services, 


88  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

and  in  consideration  of  his  expense  in  establishing  the  colony, 
the  Assembly  granted  him  an  impost  upon  certain  imports 
and  exports ;  but  he,  with  a  generosity  which  he  had  after- 
wards cause  to  repent,  declined  to  accept  it. 

There  are  on  record  two  deeds  for  lands  purchased  of  the 
Indians  in  the  year  1683.  The  first,  signed  by  kings  Tam- 
inend  and  Metamequan,  conveys  their  land  near  Neshaminy 
Creek  and  thence  to  Pennypack.  The  other  is  for  lands 
lying  between  the  Schuylkill  and  Chester  rivers. 

In  one  of  the  purchases  made  from  the  Indians  it  was  stipu- 
lated that  it  should  extend  "  as  far  back  as  a  man  could  walk 
in  three  days."  Tradition  relates  that  William  Penn  himself, 
with  some  of  his  friends  and  a  number  of  Indian  chiefs, 
"began  to  walk  out  this  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  Neshaminy, 
and  walked  up  the  Delaware ;  that  in  one  day  and  a  half  they 
got  to  a  spruce-tree  near  the  mouth  of  Baker's  Creek,  when 
Penn  concluding  this  would  include  as  much  land  as  he 
would  want  at  present,  a  line  was  run  and  marked  from  the 
spruce-tree  to  Neshaminy,  and  the  remainder  left  to  be  walked 
out  when  it  should  be  wanted  for  settlement."  It  is  said  they 
walked  leisurely,  after  the  Indian  manner,  sitting  down  some- 
times to  smoke  their  pipes,  to  eat  biscuit  and  cheese,  and  drink 
a  bottle  of  wine.  It  is  certain  they  arrived  at  the  spruce-tree  in  a 
day  and  a  half,  the  whole  distance  rather  less  than  thirty  miles. 
The  remainder  of  the  line  was  not  run  till  the  20th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1733,  when  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  employed  three 
of  the  fastest  walkers  that  could  be  found,  one  of  whom,  Ed- 
ward Marshall,  walked  in  a  day  and  a  half  sixty  miles. 
The  name  of  William  Penn  has  by  some  persons  been  unjustly 
<:oupled  with  this  disgraceful  transaction,  which  did  not  take 
place  till  many  years  after  his  death.  The  Indians  felt  them- 
selves much  aggrieved  by  this  unfair  admeasurement  of  their 
lands:  it  was  the  cause  of  the  first  dissatisfaction  between 
them  and  the  people  of  Pennsylvania;  and  it  is  remarkable 
that  the  first  murder  committed  by  them  in  the  province, 
seventy-two  years  after  the  landing  of  Penn,  was  on  this  very 
ground  which  Lad  been  taken  from  them  by  fraud. 


WILLIAM  PENN.  89 

While  the  colonists  of  Pennsylvania  were  enjoying  the 
blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  they  were  deeply 
grieved  to  hear  of  the  severe  persecution  inflicted  on  their 
brethren  in  Great  Britain.  The  laws  against  non-conformity 
were  executed  with  rigor;  the  meetings  of  Friends  were 
broken  up  by  armed  troops ;  and  many  hundreds  of  men  and 
women,  separated  from  their  families,  were  confined  for  years 
in  noisome  prisons,  or  only  released  by  death.  As  the  Duke 
of  York  was  then  supposed  to  have  great  influence  with  his 
brother,  the  King,  and  had  always  manifested  much  friendship 
for  William  Penn,  it  was  supposed  that  his  return  to  England 
and  appearance  at  court  might  be  instrumental  in  mitigating 
the  sufferings  of  Friends. 

Another  reason  for  his  return  was  a  controversy  respecting 
the  boundary -line  between  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland, 
which  was  soon  to  be  brought  before  "the  Lords  of  the 
Committee  of  Trade  and  Plantations,"  and  it  was  deemed 
necessary  that  Penn  should  be  in  attendance  to  sustain  his 
rights. 

These  reasons,  together  with  a  desire  to  join  his  family, 
from  which  he  had  been  separated  nearly  two  years,  deter- 
mined him  to  leave  for  a  while  his  thriving  colony,  and  he 
accordingly  embarked  for  England  in  the  Sixth  month, 
1684.  Before  his  departure  he  commissioned  the  provincial 
Council  to  act  in  his  stead ;  and  to  Thomas  Lloyd,  its  presi- 
dent, he  entrusted  the  keeping  of  the  Great  Seal.  After  a 
passage  of  about  seven  weeks,  he  landed  within  seven  miles 
of  his  own  residence,  and  found  his  family  in  the  enjoyment 
of  health. 

In  the  winter  of  1684-5,  King  Charles  II.  died  of  apoplexy, 
and  his  brother,  James,  Duke  of  York,  succeeded  to  the 
throne  under  the  title  of  James  II.  He  was  at  first  received 
with  favor  by  the  nation,  although  his  profession  of  the 
Catholic  religion  was  incompatible  with  his  station  as  head 
of  the  Established  Church. 

Long  before  his  accession  to  the  throne  he  had  declared  to 
William  Penn  that  he  was  opposed  to  persecution  on  account 


90  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

of  religion  ;  and  after  attaining  to  power  he  professed  to  hold 
the  same  views.  On  the  first  day  of  his  reign  he  made  a 
speech,  disclaiming  all  arbitrary  principles  in  government, 
and  promising  protection  to  the  Church  of  England,  which 
gave  ge'neral  satisfaction,  and  he  soon  received  congratulatory 
addresses  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  Society  of  Friends  offered  at 
that  time  any  congratulations ;  but,  soon  after,  they  waited 
on  him  with  an  address,  asking  the  exercise  of  his  clemency, 
and  showing  that  upwards  of  1,400  members  of  the  Society, 
of  both  sexes,  were  continued  prisoners  in  England  and 
Wales,  only  for  worshipping  God  according  to  their  sense  of 
duty,  and  for  conscientiously  refusing  to  swear.  The  libera- 
tion of  these  prisoners  did  not  take  place  for  a  year  after 
their  case  was  brought  before  the  King,  and  it  was  then  done 
chiefly  through  the  personal  influence  and  intercession  of 
William  Penn.  As  his  object  in  returning  to  England  was  to 
solicit  the  liberation  of  his  friends  and  to  obtain  a  favorable 
settlement  of  the  boundary  question,  it  became  necessary  for 
him  to  appear  frequently  at  court ;  he  therefore  took  lodgings 
for  himself  and  family  at  Kensington. 

The  zeal  manifested  by  the  King  in  favor  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  the  high  tone  he  assumed  with  regard  to  the 
royal  prerogative,  and  the  judicial  murders  perpetrated  in  his 
name  by  Jeffreys  and  others,  were  rapidly  alienating  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people. 

The  odium  of  his  proceedings  attached  to  all  who  were 
known  to  enjoy  his  confidence,  and,  among  others,  Penn  was 
accused  of  favoring  the  Catholic  religion  and  the  arbitrary 
measures  of  the  court.  The  old  charge  of  his  being  bred  at 
St.  Omer's,  and  a  Jesuit  in  disguise,  was  revived,  and,  owing 
to  the  highly  excited  state  of  the  public  mind,  was  believed 
by  many.  There  is,  however,  abundant  evidence  to  show 
that  Penn,  though  on  intimate  terms  with  the  King,  opposed 
his  arbitrary  measures,  and  boldly  remonstrated  against 
them.* 

*  See  Lawton's  Memoir,  in  Janney's  Life  of  Penn,  pp.  301-7.    The  Memou 


WILLIAM  PENN.  91 

His  object  in  frequenting  the  court  was,  to  obtain  justice 
for  his  province  in  the  boundary  question ;  to  plead  the  cause 
of  innocent  sufferers  of  all  religious  persuasions ;  to  extend 
the  hand  of  mercy  to  those  who  fell  under  the  displeasure  of 
the  government;  and  to  advise  the  King  to  those  measures 
of  clemency  and  moderation  which  would  have  established 
his  throne. 

The  charges  brought  against  Penn  in  Macaulay's  History 
of  England  have  no  foundation  in  fact,  and  have  been 
thoroughly  disproved.  The  limits  of  this  paper  not  being 
sufficient  for  an  examination  of  them,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  other  works  relating  to  the  life  and  character  of  Penn.* 

The  work  of  J.  Paget  is  the  most  recent  of  the  vindications 
of  Penn,  and  being  written  by  a  churchman,  cannot  be  sus- 
pected of  any  bias  in  his  favor  arising  from  religious  affinity. 
By  reference  to  its  pages,  the  reader  will  see  that  the  first 
charge  of  Macaulay,  relating  to  the  "  Maids  of  Taunton,"  is 
utterly  without  foundation ;  that  the  second,  Penn's  presence 
at  the  execution  of  Cornish  and  Gaunt,  relates  to  conduct 
that  was  prompted  by  a  pure  motive,  and  served  a  good  pur- 
pose; he  regarded  them  as  innocent  sufferers,  and  bore  wit- 
ness to  their  constancy ;  that  the  third,  relating  to  Kiffin,  is 
founded  on  a  misconstruction  of  the  authority  quoted,  and  an 
interpolation;  that  the  fourth,  relating  to  Magdalen  College, 
rests  on  a  perversion  of  the  testimony  and  the  suppression  of 
an  important  fact;  that  the  fifth,  the  alleged  communication 
of  Penn  with  James  while  in  Ireland,  has  no  support  save  a 
misquotation  of  the  authority  cited;  that  the  sixth,  Penn's 
alleged  falsehood  in  a  supposed  interview  with  "William  III., 
is  unsupported  by  testimony,  and  evidently  a  fiction ;  that  the 
seventh  and  eighth,  relating  to  Penn's  alleged  share  in  Pres- 

was  communicated  by  Granville  Penn  to  the  Hist.  Society  of  Penna.,  and  pub- 
lished in  their  Memoirs,  Vol.  iii.,  Part  ii. 

*  See  W.  E.  Forster's  Preface  to  Clarkson's  Life  of  Penn ;  \V.  Hepworth  Dixon's 
Historical  Biography  of  Penn  ;  Janney's  Life  of  Penn,  chapter  xxii.,  and  Ap- 
pendix te  4th  edition,  published  by  Lippincott  &  Co.,  Philada.,  1856.  An  In* 
quiry  into  the  Evidence  relating  to  the  charges  brought  by  Lord  Macaulay 
against  William  Penn  by  John  Paget,  Esq.,  Barrister-at-Law,  London,  1858. 


«2  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

ton's  plot  and  his  interview  with  Sidney,  rest  upon  a  perver- 
sion of  facts,  and  an  unfair  quotation;  and  lastly,  that  hia 
ninth  charge,  relating  to  Penn's  alleged  message  to  James, 
exhorting  him  to  invade  England  with  30,000  men,  is  abso- 
lutely false.* 

Those  who  examine  this  question  impartially,  can  hardly 
fail  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  expressed  by  a  British  critic 
in  the  Westminster  Review:  —  "Induced,"  he  says,  "  by  the 
voice  of  the  calumniator  to  give  the  character  of  Penn  a 
searching  and  uncompromising  scrutiny,  we  rise  from  the 
task  under  the  firm  conviction  that  he  was  one  of  the  best 
and  wisest  of  men." 

On  the  abdication  of  James  II.,  and  the  accession  of  William 
and  Mary,  all  the  friends  or  intimates  of  the  exiled  monarch 
fell  under  public  odium,  most  of  them  deservedly,  but,  in  the 
case  of  Penn,  the  abuse  heaped  upon  him  arose  from  a  mis- 
apprehension of  his  motives  and  conduct,  and  from  the  asper- 
sions of  his  enemies.  On  the  10th  of  December,  1688,  he 
was  sent,  for  by  the  Lords  of  the  Council  then  sitting.  In  reply 
to  their  questions,  he  assured  them  that  "he  had  done  nothing 
but  what  he  could  answer  for  before  God  and  all.  the  princes 
in  the  world ;  that  he  loved  his  country  and  the  Protestant 
religion  above  his  life,  and  never  acted  against  either ;  that 
all  he  ever  aimed  at  in  his  public  endeavors  was  no  other  than 
what  the  Prince  [-William]  declared  for;  that  King  James 
was  always  his  friend  and  his  father's  friend,  and  in  gratitude 
he  was  the  King's,  and  did  ever,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  influ- 
ence him  to  his  true  interest."  Although  nothing  appeared 
against  him,  he  was  required  to  give  sureties  for  his  appear- 
ance the  first  day  of  the  next  term. 

At  the  next  term  his  case  was  continued  to  the  Easter  term 
following,  when  nothing  being  laid  to  his  charge,  he  was 
cleared  in  open  court. 

In  the  year  1690  he  was  again  arrested  and  brought  before 
the  Lords  of  the  Council.  His  answer,  as  before,  was  manly, 
candid,  and  wise.  He  was  ordered  to  give  bail  to  appear  at 

*  J.  Paget's  Inquiry,  pp.  15,  27,  37,  57-9,  79,  87,  94,  101,  102,  109, 


WILLIAM  PENK  93 

the  next  Trinity  term,  which  he  did ;  and  at  the  time  ap- 
pointed he  appeared  in  court,  and  was  honorably  discharged. 
Soon  afterward,  his  name  was  included  in  a  proclamation 
issued  for  the  arrest  of  eighteen  persons  supposed  to  be  dis- 
affected to  the  Government.  He  was  again  apprehended,  and 
lodged  in  prison  to  await  his  trial ;  and  when  brought  before 
the  Court  of  the  King's  Bench,  there  being  no  evidence 
against  him,  he  was  discharged. 

Being  now  at  liberty,  he  made  preparations  for  a  voyage  to 
America ;  and  while  thus  engaged,  he  learned  that  an  infa- 
mous wretch,  named  William  Fuller,  whom  the  Parliament 
afterwards  declared  was  "  a  cheat  and  a  notorious  impostor," 
had,  under  oath,  accused  him  to  the  Government,  and  that  a 
warrant  was  issued  for  his  apprehension.  This  vexatious  pro- 
ceeding deranged  all  his  plans ;  for,  to  leave  England  while 
he  was  under  suspicion  and  subject  to  arrest,  would  be  con- 
strued by  his  enemies  as  evidence  of  his  guilt ;  and  if  he 
surrendered  himself  for  trial,  he  would  probably  be  exposed 
to  danger  from  the  oaths  of  a  profligate  villain,  and  even  an 
acquittal,  as  he  had  frequently  experienced,  was  no  security 
against  fresh  accusations.  In  this  sad  .dilemma,  feeling  like 
one  hunted  for  his  life^  he  concluded  to  defer  his  cherished 
purpose  of  returning  to  Pennsylvania.  He  allowed  the  ships 
to  depart  without  him,  and  having  taken  private  lodgings  in 
London,  he  lived  in  seclusion.  If  the  Government  had  been 
desirous  for  his  apprehension,  doubtless  the  officers  could 
readily  have  found  him  at  his  lodgings;  but  it  appears  prob- 
able that  the  King  and  Queen  were  satisfied  of  his  inno- 
cence, and  only  permitted  his  name  to  be  inserted  for  effect, 
to  satisfy  popular  clamor. 

When  the  Yearly  Meeting  of  Friends  assembled  in  Lon- 
don, Penn  wrote  them  from  his  retreat  a  touching  and  affec- 
tionate letter,  in  which  he  says :  "  My  privacy  is  not  because 
men  have  sworn  truly,  but  falsely  against  me."  During  his 
seclusion  of  nearly  three  years,  he  was  frequently  visited  by, 
his  friends,  among  whom  were  John  Locke  and  others  emi- 
nent for  their  worth.  His  time  was  usefully  occupied  in 


94  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

study  and  writing  religious  works.  The  dates  of  these  works 
and  of  his  letters  yet  extant,  prove  that  the  story  of  his  flight 
to  France  was  a  sheer  fabrication. 

In  the  autumn  of  1692,  a  commission  was  granted  by  the 
sovereigns,  William  and  Mary,  to  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  directing  him  to  take  under  his  jurisdic- 
tion the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  and  the  Territories  annexed. 
This  step  was  urged  by  the  enemies  of  Penn  as  necessary  for 
the  safety  of  the  colony.  It  was  said  that  the  French  and 
Indians  threatened  the  frontier  settlements,  that  no  defence 
had  been  provided  by  the  Colonial  Government,  and  that  the 
Province  and,  the  Territories  being  at  variance,  no  efficient 
administration  of  the  laws  could  be  expected. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1693,  through  the  intercession 
of  some  noblemen  who  had  long  been  his  friends,  the  case 
of  William  Penn  was  again  brought  before  King  William, 
who  being  satisfied  of  his  innocence,  signified  his  wish  that 
he  should  consider  himself  entirely  at  liberty.  This  pleasing 
change  in  his  affairs,  and  the  circumstances  attending  his  in- 
terview with  the  Secretary  of  State,  are  related  in  a  letter  of 
Penn's  to  Thomas  Lloyd  and  others  in  Pennsylvania.  His 
wife,  who  had  tenderly  sympathized  wjth  him  in  all  his  trials, 
was  permitted  to  see  him  again  restored  to  liberty ;  but  in 
the  following  month  she  was  removed  by  death.  He  has  left 
an  affectionate  tribute  to  her  worth  in  a  touching  and  beauti- 
ful memorial. 

By  a  patent  from  the  King  and  Queen,  dated  August,  1694, 
the  government  of  Pennsylvania  was  restored  to  William 
Penn.  He  was  now  earnestly  desirous  of  removing  to  the 
Province ;  but  the  situation  of  his  domestic  affairs^  and  prob- 
ably the  state  of  his  finances,  obliged  him  to  defer  it.  He  ap- 
pointed Capt.  William  Markham  his  Lieutenant-Governor, — 
Thomas  Lloyd,  his  former  deputy,  having  died  a  few  months 
previously.  From  the  time  Penn  was  reinstated  in  his  gov- 
ernment until  his  arrival  in  the  Province  in  1699,  a  period 
of  five  years,  there  are  few  incidents  of  importance  on  re- 
cord concerning  the  colony,  which  appears  to  have  enjoyed 
peace  and  prosperity. 


WILLIAM  PENN.  95 

After  Perm's  acquittal  and  restoration  to  his  proprietary 
rights,  there  was  in  the  public  mind  a  reaction  in  his  favor, 
and  he  rose  higher  than  ever  in  the  estimation  of  his  friends. 
There  is  now  extant  a  small  volume  of  his  sermons,  delivered 
at  different  meeting-houses  in  London  about  this  time,  which 
having  been  taken  in  short-hand  and  published,  afford  evi- 
dence that  he  had  again  become  an  object  of  public  interest. 

In  the  spring  of  1696,  he  again  entered  the  married  state. 
He  chose  for  his  second  wife,  Hannah,  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  Callowhill,  and  grand-daughter  of  Dennis  Hollister, 
both  respectable  merchants  of  Bristol,  and  members  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  She  proved  to  be  a  true  help -meet 
for  him,  being  a  woman  of  superior  understanding  and  great 
prudence. 

On  the  9th  of  September,  1699,  he  embarked  for  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  brought  with  him  certificates  from  Friends  in 
England,  addressed  to  the  meetings  of  Friends  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, showing  that  he  was  in  full  unity  with  the  meetings  of 
his  own  Society,  and  greatly  beloved  among  them. 

It  was  a  joyful  day  to  the  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania  when 
the  ship  Canterbury  was  announced,  bearing  to  their  shores  the 
illustrious  founder  of  the  colony ;  who,  after  an  absence  of 
fifteen  years,  had  come  with  his  family,  intending  to  make  it 
his  permanent  home.  After  a  tedious  voyage  of  more  than 
three  months,  the  ship  arrived  at  Chester  on  the  1st  of  De- 
(  cember,  1699,  and  soon  after  proceeded  on  her  way  to  Phila- 
delphia, where  the  Governor  was  greeted  by  the  inhabitants 
with  joy  and  respect. 

In  the  spring  or  summer  of  the  year  1700,  "William  Penn 
and  his  family  settled  on  Pennsbury  Manor,  a  beautiful  estate 
situated  in  Bucks  County,  four  miles  above  Bristol,  on  the 
river  Delaware. 

It  appears  from  the  Colonial  Records  that  Penn,  in  the 
spring  of  1700,  brought  before  the  Provincial  Council  a  law 
for  regulating  the  marriages  of  negroes,  which  was  approved 
by  that  body,  but  lost  in  the  popular  branch.  It  is  stated  that 
he  mourned  over  the  state  of  the  slaves,  but  his  attempts  to 


96  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

improve  their  condition  by  legal  enactments  were  defeated  in 
the  House  of  Assembly.  His  efforts  were  more  successful  in. 
his  own  religious  Society;  for,  upon  his  suggestion,  the 
Monthly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  made  a  minute  expressive 
of  the  concern  they  felt  for  the  negroes  and  Indians;  that 
Friends  should  be  very  careful  in  discharging  a  good  con 
science  towards  them  in  all  respects,  but  more  especially  for 
the  good  of  their  souls;  and  with  this  view  religious  meetings 
should  be  held  among  them.  It  is  manifest  that  the  first  con- 
cern for  their  slaves,  on  the  part  of  the  Friends  in  that  day, 
was  to  promote  their  spiritual  welfare ;  and  as  they  attended 
to  this,  their  minds  were  gradually  opened  to  see  th§t  slave- 
holding  is  inconsistent  with  Christianity.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, until  after  many  years  of  persevering  religious  effort 
that  the  Society  was  enabled  to  free  itself  from  a  practice 
that  had,  in  an  unwatchful  hour,  been  permitted  to  take 
root. 

Penn,  at  one  time,  owned  a  few  slaves,  but  when  his  eyes 
were  opened  to  see  the  evils  of  the  system,  he  liberated  all 
that  were  in  his  possession.  This  fact  is  substantiated  by  a 
will  he  made  in  1701,  which  is  still  extant,  and  contains  this 
clause:  "I  give  to  my  blacks  their  freedom,  as  is  under  my 
hand  already,  and  to  old  Sam  100  acres,  to  be  his  children's 
after  he  and  his  wife  are  dead,  forever." 

At  several  meetings  of  the  Governor  and  Council  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Indian  trade  was  discussed,  and  it  was  resolved 
that  a  company  be  formed,  "  who  should  take  all  measures 
to  induce  the  Indians  to  a  true  value  and  esteem  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  by  setting  before  them  good  examples  of  pro- 
bity and  candor,  both  in  commerce  and  behaviour,  and  that 
care  should  be  taken  to  have  them  duly  instructed  in  the  fun- 
damentals of  Christianity." 

While  Penn  was  earnestly  engaged  in  devising  measures 
to  promote  the  prosperity  of  his  province,  he  received  letters 
from  his  friends  in  England,  stating  that  "  strenuous  endeav- 
ors were  used  by  several  united  interests,  to  procure  an  act 
of  Parliament  for  annexing  to  the  Crown  the  several  propri- 


WILLIAM  PENN.  97 

etary  governments ;  for  which  purpose  a  bill  was  ihen  before 
the  House  of  Lords,  which  had  been  twice  read,  and  though 
not  likely  to  pass  that  session,  there  was  no  hope  of  staving 
it  off  longer  than  the  next,  unless  the  Proprietary  would 
make  his  appearance  in  person,  and  answer  the  charges 
brought  against  his  government  by  evil-minded  persons." 
His  friends  in  England  urged  the  necessity  of  his  coming 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible ;  the  welfare  of  the  Province 
as  well  as  his  own  interest  seemed  to  require  it,  and  he  re- 
luctantly consented  to  leave  his  adopted  country  to  appear 
once  more  at  his  old  post  near  the  British  Court. 

The  Indians  being  informed  of  his  expected  departure, 
waited  upon  him  in  large  numbers  to  express  their  affection 
and  confidence.  They  said  "  they  never  first  broke  covenant 
with  any  people,  for  they  did  not  make  them  in  their  heads 
but  in  their  hearts." 

The  constitution  having  been  relinquished  by  the  Assem- 
bly, from  dissatisfaction  with  some  of  its  provisions,  a  new 
one  was  prepared,  and  read  to  that  body,  "  and  every  part 
thereof  approved,  agreed  to,  and  thankfully  received."  It 
was  the  last  one  granted  to  the  Province  and  Territories,  and 
in  some  respects  was  even  more  liberal  than  those  which 
preceded  it.  The  principal  change  was  in  allowing  the  As- 
sembly to  originate  bills  and  to  sit  on  its  own  adjournments. 
It  made  no  provision  for  the  election  of  a  Council,  which  was 
appointed  by  the  Governor,,  and  prohibited  from  taking  cog- 
nizance of  any  complaint  relating  to  property,  unless  appeals 
should  be  provided  by  law.  In  regard  to  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  the  new  Constitution  was  as  comprehensive  as  the  old 
onf.  By  a  supplementary  article,  the  Province  and  Terri- 
tories were  allowed  to  dissolve  their  union  at  any  time  within 
three  years  by  giving  due  notice. 

The  Proprietary,  by  letters-patent,  appointed  a  Council  of 
State,  consisting  of  ten  members,  mostly  Friends,  who  were 
to  advise  and  assist  him  or  his  deputy,  and  in  case  of  the 
deputy's  absence  or  death,  to  exercise  the  executive  functions. 

The  ship  be  ng  ready  to  sail,  Penn  convened  the  inhabi- 


98  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

tants  of  Philadelphia  on  the  29th  of  October,  in  order  to  take 
leave  of  them  and  present  them  a  charter  for  the  city.  On 
the  30th,  he  appointed  Andrew  Hamilton,  formerly  Gov 
ernor  of  East  and  West  Jersey,  to  be  his  Lieutenant-Gov 
ernor,  and  James  Logan  he  made  Provincial  Secretary  and 
Clerk  of  the  Council. 

On  Penn's  arrival  in  England,  he  was  successful  in  warding 
off  the  blows  aimed  at  his  proprietary  interests ;  but  the  enor- 
mous expenses  he  had  incurred  in  the  planting  of  his  colony 
and  defending  its  interests,.involvedhim  in  pecuniary  embar- 
rassment, which  was  greatly  enhanced  by  the  treachery  of  his 
steward.  On  the  large  sums  of  money  that  passed  through 
his  hands,  he  charged  exorbitant  commissions,  and  on  his 
advances  he  calculated  compound  interest  every  six  months 
at  eight  per  cent.,  which  was  one-third  more  than  the  law 
allowed.  Although  he  had  received  £17,000,  and  expended 
£16,000  only,  he  brought  the  Proprietary  in  his  debt  to  the 
amount  of  ten  thousand  five  hundred  pounds.  Penn  having 
confidence  in  him,  accepted  his  accounts  without  sufficient 
examination,  and  finally,  to  secure  the  debt,  gave  him  a  lien 
upon  his  Province  in  the  form  of  a  deed  of  conveyance. 

After  the  death  of  the  steward,  his  heirs  brought  suit,  and 
Penn  being  arrested,  became  a  prisoner  for  debt.  He  offered, 
for  "  peace  sake,"  to  pay  such  a  sum  as  disinterested  men 
might  award,  but  the  prosecutors  were  inexorable,  and  he  con- 
tinued about  nine  months  within  the  prison  bounds.  During 
his  imprisonment  his  friends  exerted  themselves  for  his  relief, 
and  the  sum  of  seven  thousand  six  hundred  pounds  being 
raised,  it  was  accepted  in  liquidation  of  the  claim,  and  he  was 
again  set  at  liberty.  ,  . 

In  addition  to  his  pecuniary  difficulties,  Penn  had  to  suffer 
from  anxiety  on  account  of  his  Province.  His  Lieutenant- 
Governors  were  frequently  injudicious  in  their  measures,  and 
the  Colonial  Assemblies  unreasonable  in  their  complaints ; 
hence  dissensions  arose  between  the  legislative  and  executive 
departments,  which  impaired  the  reputation  and  interests  of 
the  colony. 


WILLIAM  PENtf.  99 

These  dissensions  were  doubtless  exaggerated  in  the  reports 
sent  over  to  England,  and  increased  the  embarrassments  of  the 
Proprietary.  Another  cause  of  anxiety  to  Penn  arose  from 
the  proceedings  of  a  British  court  of  Admiralty  established 
in  the  Province,  which  endeavored  to  exact  the  use  of  oaths, 
and  otherwise  interfered  with  his  government.  In  his  cor- 
respondence with  his  faithful  friend  and  secretary,  James 
Logan,  he  expresses,  in  touching  terms,  his  affectionate  in- 
terest in  the  colony,  and  his  solicitude  for  its  welfare.  At 
length  he  came  reluctantly  to  the  conclusion,  in  which  Logan 
and  others  of  his  friends  concurred,  that  it  would  be  best  for 
him  to  sell  to  the  British  crown  his  right  of  government  in 
the  Province,  retaining  his  landed  estate  in  it.  His  negotia- 
tions with  the  ministry  were  delayed  by  his  determination  to 
secure  religious  liberty  arid  political  privileges  to  the  people. 
In  the  summer  of  1712  the  terms  of  the  surrender  were  agreed 
upon,  but  he  was  then  taken  ill  of  a  fever,  and  the  measure 
was  never  consummated. 

When  he  had  partially  recovered,  he  went  to  Bristol,  where 
he  had  a  second  attack  of  a  disease  which  his  wife,  in  her  letter 
to  Logan,  called-  "  a  lethargic  illness."  It  came  upon  him 
suddenly  while  he  was  writing  to  Logan,  —  so  suddenly,  that 
his  hand  was  arrested  by  paralysis  in  the  beginning  of  a  sen- 
tence which  he  never  completed. 

During  six  years  he  lingered  an  invalid,  gradually  sinking 
to  the  grave.  His  memory  was  impaired,  his  noble  intellect 
was  clouded ;  but  the  sweetness  of  his  temper  remained,  and 
he  was  favored  to  retain  the  highest  and  best  of  his  endow- 
ments,—  a  sense  of  spiritual  enjoyment,  and  a  heart  over- 
flowing with  love  to  God  arid  man.  He  died  the  30th  of  the 
Fifth  month,  1718,  in  the  74th  year  of  his  age,  and  was 
buried  at  Jordan's,  in  Buckinghamshire,  where  his  first  wife 
and  several  of  his  family  had  been  interred. 

In  all  the  transactions  of  his  eventful  life,  the  character 
of  William  Penn  shines  out  in  clearness  and  purity.  The 
lapse  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  has  not  dimmed  its 
lustre,  and  even  his  modern  traducer  admits  that  "  his  name 


100  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

has  thus  become,  throughout  all  civilized  countries,  a  syno- 
nym for  probity  and  philanthropy."  One  of  the  most  re- 
markable traits  in  the  character  of  Penn  was  his  magnanimity. 
With  a  singular  disregard  for  selfish  or  personal  considera- 
tions, he  devoted  his  life  to  the  good  of  mankind.  To  plead 
the  cause  of  suffering  humanity;  to  advocate  the  doctrines 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty ;  to  found  a  free  colony  for  all 
mankind ;  to  establish  there  the  most  liberal  constitution  and 
laws ;  to  obtain  by  justice  and  kindness  an  unexampled  in- 
fluence over  the  Indian  tribes;  to  recommend  measures  for 
improving  the  moral  and  social  condition  of  the  African 
race ;  to  point  out  the  means  of  avoiding  the  calamities  of 
war,  and  to  exemplify  the  benign  principles  of  peace  :  these 
and  similar  objects  engaged  all  the  powers  of  his  active  and 
vigorous  mind.  To  have  aimed  at  such  noble  objects,  entitles 
his  character  to  our  esteem ;  to  have  succeeded  so  remarkably, 
demands  our  gratitude. 

"  There  is,"  says  Bancroft,  "  nothing  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race  like  the  confidence  which  the  simple  virtues  and 
institutions  of  William  Penn  inspired."  ....  "Penn  never 
gave  counsel  at  variance  with  popular  rights."  .  .  .  .  "  Eng- 
land, to-day,  confesses  his  sagacity,  and  is  doing  honor  to  his 
geniuj.  He  came  too  soon  for  success,  and  he  was  aware  of 
it.  After  more  than  a  century,  the  laws  which  he  reproved 
began  gradually  to  be  repealed  ;  and  the  principle  which  he 
developed,  sure  of  immortality,  is  slowly  but  firmly  asserting 
its  power  over  the  legislation  of  Great  Britain."  ..."  Every 
charge  of  hypocrisy,  of  selfishness,  of  vanity,  of  dissimula- 
tion, of  credulous  confidence ;  every  form  of  reproach,  from 
virulent  abuse  to  cold  apology ;  every  ill  name  from  Tory  and 
Jesuit  to  blasphemer  and  infidel,  has  been  used  against  Penn; 
but  the  candor  of  his  character  always  triumphed  over  calumny. 

"  His  name  was  safely  cherished  as  a  household  word  in 
the  cottages  of  Wales  and  Ireland,  and  among  the  peasantry 
of  Germany ;  and  not  a  tenant  of  a  wigwam,  from  the  sea  to 
the  Susquehanna,  doubted  his  integrity. 

"  His  fame  is  now  wide  as  the  world ;  he  is  one  of  the  fe\f 
who  have  gained  abiding  glory." 


CHAPTER  II. 

PROPRIETARY   GOVERNMENT,  1684-1693. 

THOMAS  LLOYD,  President  of  Council,  August,  1684,  to  De- 
cember, 1686.  —  Unable  to  come  to  an  agreement  with 
Lord  Baltimore,  respecting  the  possession  of  the  territory 
south  of  the  Delaware,  and  desirous  of  holding  the  Bay,  and 
thus  securing  favorable  communication  with  the  ocean,  Penn 
determined  to  try  his  cause  before  the  home  government, 
where  Lord  Baltimore  had  already  submitted  it,  and  was 
laboring  to  have  tHe  case  prejudged.  Though  attached  to 
his  colony,  and  conscious  that  his  presence  in  it  was  con- 
stantly needed,  he  nevertheless  decided  to  return  to  England. 
There  were  other  considerations  besides  this  which  attracted 
him  thither.  It  was  a  period  in  which  dissenters,  and  espe- 
cially the  sect  to  which  Penn  belonged,  felt  the  heavy  hand 
of  persecution.  He  had  influence  at  court,  and  he  longed  to 
plead  the  cause  of  his  suifering  brethren  in  the  royal  presence. 

He  accordingly  placed  the  executive  government  in  the 
hands  of  a  Council  of  Five,  over  whom  he  appointed  Thomas 
Lloyd,  President,  to  whom  he  entrusted  the  keeping  of  the 
Great  Seal,  and  on  the  12th  of  August,  1684,  sailed  for  England. 

Lloyd  had  been  educated  at  Oxford,  and  had  held  places 
of  trust  at  home.  Attaching  himself  to  the  Quakers,  he  had 
become  skilled  in  argumentation,  and  in  the  defence  of  their 
doctrines.  Having  formed  the  purpose  of  settling  in  the 
New  World,  he  had  embarked  with  Penn,  to  whose  favor  he 
had  commended  himself  during  the  voyage,  by  the  steadfast- 
ness of  his  faith,  and  by  his  fortitude  under  the  severest  trials. 
Markham,  the  fiist  proprietary  Lieutenant  -  Governor,  was 
made  secretary  of  the  Province  and  the  Territories;  Thomas 

101 


102  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Holmes,  Surveyor  General ;  and  Thomas  Lloyd,  James  Clay- 
poole,  and  Robert  Turner,  commissioners  of  the  land  office. 

At  the  departure  of  Penn,  the  country  had  twenty-two  or- 
ganized townships,  containing  seven  thousand  inhabitants, 
of  whom  two  thousand  five  hundred  were  in  Philadelphia, — 
an  extraordinary  growth  for  the  short  period  since  the  grant 
had  been  made.  After  going  on  shipboard,  and  before  set- 
ting sail,  Penn  addressed  a  letter  to  his  Council,  full  of  excel- 
lent advice,  and  breathing  the  spirit  of  the  most  fervent  piety. 
"  My  love  and  my  life,"  he  says,  "  is  to  you  and  with  you, 
and  no  water  can  quench  it,  nor  distance  wear  it  out,  or 
bring  it  to  an  end."  ....  "Oh,  that  you  would  eye  Him,  in 
all,  through  all,  and  above  all  the  works  of  your  hands,  and 
let  it  be  your  first  care,  how  you  may  glorify  God  in  your  un- 
dertakings; for  to  a  blessed  end  are  you  brought  hither." .... 
"  And  thou,  Philadelphia,  the  virgin  settlement  of  this  prov- 
ince, named  before  thou  wert  born,  what  love,  what  care, 
what  service,  and  what  travail  has  there  been,  to  bring 
thee  forth,  and  preserve  thee  from  such  as  would  abuse  and 
defile  thee." 

The  sway  of  Penn  while  in  the  Province  was  universally 
respected.  He  had  made  the  art  of  government  a  study. 
Not  so  the  men  whom  he  left  in  power.  They  had  been  ac- 
customed to  be  governed,  and  knew  little  of  the  vexations 
and  responsibilities  of  ruling. 

On  his  departure,  the  great  freedom  of  private  opinion, 
in  the  affairs  of  government,  which  he  had  labored  to  incul- 
cate, began  to  show  itself  offensively,  and  to  give  trouble  ,in 
the  administration.  Nicholas  Moore,  who  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Council  of  Five,  in  whose  hands  Penn  had  left  judicial 
.authority,  and  who  was,  in  effect,  Chief-Justice  of  the  Colony, 
was  impeached  by  the  House  on  the  15th  of  March,  1685. 
Ten  articles  were  preferred  before  the  Council.  Owing  to 
Borne  informality  in  the  proceedings,  he  escaped  conviction, 
but  not  punishment ;  for  he  was  expelled  from  the  Assembly, 
and  forbidden  to  hold  any  office  of  trust.  In  the  eyes  of  the 
Proprietor,  Moore  was  regarded  as  guiltless  of  any  heinous  of- 
fence. Other  difficulties  in  the  government  occurred.  Patrick 


FIVE  COMMISSIONERS.  103 

Robinson,  clerk  of  the  court,  was  voted  a  public;  enemy  .  and 
John  Curtis,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  was  charged  with  the  use 
of  treasonable  language. 

FIVE  COMMISSIONERS,  1686-88.  —To  settle  these  dis- 
orders, the  people  sought  the  return  of  Penn.  But  other 
and  weightier  matters  now  claimed  his  attention.  Dissatis- 
fied with  the  action  of  the  Council,  or  rather  its  negligence, 
and  to  cure  certain  evils  which  he  had  seen  arise,  Penn  deter- 
mined to  relieve  it  and  its  president  of  the  executive  power, 
and  to  lodge  it  in  the  hands  of  five  commissioners,  any  three 
'of  whom  were  to  constitute  a  quorum,  whose  action  in  enact- 
ing, disannulling,  or  varying  of  laws,  should  have  the  same 
force  as  though  the  Proprietor  was  himself  present,  and  gov- 
erning. Thomas  Lloyd,  Nicholas  Moore,  James  Claypoole, 
Robert  Turner,  and  John  Eckley,  were  the  first  appointed  to 
this  commission ;  but  Moore  and  Claypoole  never  acted,  and 
their  places  were  filled  by  Arthur  Cook  and  John  Simcock. 
In  their  instructions,  they  were  charged  to  correct  the  ineffi- 
cient conduct  of  the  Council,  to  preserve  the  dignity  of  their 
station,  to  abrogate  all  laws  except  -the  fundamentals,  and 
call  a  new  Assembly;  and  finally,  they  were  solemnly  ad- 
monished "  to  be  most  just  in  the  sight  of  the  all-seeing,  all- 
searching  God." 

Soon  after  the  consummation  of  this  change,  Lloyd,  who 
was  weary  of  the  cares  and  fruitless  contentions  of  a  power 
in  which  he  found  himself  but  a  co-ordinate  agent,  applied 
to  Penn  to  be  relieved.  It  was  not  easy  to  find  a  man  to  fill 
t"he  anomalous  position  which  had  been  created.  The  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council  was,  in  a  great  measure,  held  responsible 
for  the  success  and  efficiency  of  the  government,  while  he 
had  no  more  authority  than  each  of  tl  e  four  with  whom  ho 
was  associated.  Though  with  reluctance,  Penn  finally  deter- 
mined to  gratify  the  desire  of  Lloyd,  bearing  witness  in  the 
communication  which  granted  his  release  to  an  unfeigned  re- 
gard and  esteem  for  him.  In  this  letter,  which  was  dated 
October  27th,  1687,  Penn  says :  "  I  am  sorry  that  Thomas 
Lloyd,  my  friend,  covets  a  quietus,  that  is  young,  active,  and 


104  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

ingenious;  for  from  such  it  is  that  I  expect  help,  and  such 
will  not  sow  in  vain ;  but  since  't  is  his  desire,  I  do  hereby 
signify  his  dismiss  from  the  trouble  he  has  borne,  (for  some 
time  of  rest  and  ease,  at  least,)  and  do  nominate  in  my  name, 
under  the  Great  Seal,  till  further  orders,  Samuel  Carpenter, 
who,  I  hope,  will  accept,  and  industriously  serve  that  stati.on, 
else  Thomas  Ellis."  The  new  member  was  not  to  take 
Lloyd's  place  as  president,  but  to  be  one  of  the  Council,  all 
possessing  equal  power,  and,  by  the  advice  of  Penn,  each  to 
act  as  chairman  a  month  in  succession,  or,  if  preferred,  the 
senior  member  to  preside  steadily. 

It  is  evident  from  the  tenor  of  Penn's  correspondence  that 
he  longed  to  be  with  his  colony,  and  that  he  realized  the  need 
which  existed  of  his  strong  hand  in  the  government.  In  a 
letter  addressed  to  Lloyd  about  this  time,  he  says :  "  No 
honor,  interest  or  pleasure,  in  this  part  of  the  world,  shall  be 
able  to  check  my  desire  to  live  and  die  among  you ;  and 
though,  to  my  grief,  my  stay  is  yet  prolonged,  on  private  and 
public  accounts,  yet,  depend  upon  it,  Pennsylvania  is  my 
worldly  delight,  and  end  of  all  places  on  the  earth." 

CAPTAIN  JOHN  BLACKWELL,  Deputy  Governor,  De- 
cember, 1688,  to  January,  1690.  —  Though  permission  had  been 
given  to  Lloyd  to  retire  from  the  Council,  and  another  mem- 
ber had  been  designated,  yet  for  some  reason  Lloyd  remained 
until  near  the  close  of  the  year  1688.  In  the  meantime  he  had 
recommended  to  the  Proprietor  the  appointment  of  one  person 
to  the  supreme  executive  power,  having  had  a  sad  experience 
with  a  many-headed  executive.  Penn  was  disposed  to  heed 
this  advice,  but  he  was  much  perplexed  to  find  a  suitable 
representative.  He  had  tried  his  friends,  chief  men  of  the 
colony,  and  they  had  failed.  He  accordingly  determined  to 
send  a  stranger,  not  a  Quaker,  a  man  of  experience,  learn- 
ing, and  ability.  To  this  end  he  selected  and  commissioned 
Captain  John  Blackwell,  who  had  been  a  soldier  with  Crom- 
well, and  was,  at  the  time  of  his  selection,  in  one  of  the 
New  England  colonies.  "  Since  no  Friend,"  says  Penn, 


JOHN  BLACKWELL.  105 

"  would  undertake  the  Governor's  place,  I  took  OR:  that  was 
not,  and  a  stranger,  that  he  might  be  impartial,  and  more 
reverenced.  He  is,  in  England  and  Ireland,  of  great  repute 
for  ability,  integrity,  and  virtue." 

The  hopes  which  the  Proprietor  had  cherished  from  the 
appointment  of  Blackwell  were  not  realized ;  for  he  had  no 
sooner  arrived  in  the  colony  and  assumed  authority,  than 
dissensions  began  to  show  themselves.  Lloyd  refused  to  de- 
liver up  the  Great  Seal,  claiming  that  it  had  been  delivered 
to  him  by  the  Proprietor  for  life. 

Of  his  own  motion,  Blackwell  arrested  and  imprisoned  offi- 
cers high  in  the  service  of  the  State,  attempted  to  establish 
and  organize  the  militia,  under  plea  of  threatened  hostilities  by 
France,  and  questioned  the  validity  of  all  laws  passed  previous 
to  the  commencement  of  his  administration.  The  Assembly 
endeavored  to  check  his  arbitrary  rule ;  but  he  defeated  its 
ends  by  forming  a  party  in  the  Assembly,  who  absented  them- 
selves from  its  sessions,  leaving  less  than  a  quorum. 

THOMAS  LLOYD,  President  of  Council,  January,  1690,  to 
March,  1691.  — After  a  little  more  than  a  year  of  this  turbu- 
lent rule,  (from  December,  1688,  to  January,  1690,)  Blackwell 
was  relieved,  and  the  executive  authority  was  again  committed 
to  the  Council,  with  Thomas  Lloyd  president.  With  a  most 
sincere  and  earnest  desire  to  heal  all  wounds  and  compose 
all  ditferences,  Penn  proposed  three  forms  of  executive  power, 
and  left  to  the  decision  of  the  Council  which  should  be 
adopted,  —  either  the  entire  Council,  five  commissioners,  or  a 
Deputy  Governor,  each  of  which  forms  had  already  been 
tried.  The  majority  favored  a  Deputy-Governor;  but  the 
eouncilmen  from  the  three  Territories,  who  had  viewed  the 
transfer  of  power  from  New  Castle  to  Philadelphia  with  con- 
cern, opposed  this,  favoring  the  five  commissioners,  and  when 
they  found  themselves  outnumbered,  withdrew  from  the 
Council,  with. the  determination  of  ruling  the  Territories  in- 
dependent of  the  Province,  until  the  will  of  the  Proprietor 
should  be  known.  .A  deputation  from  the  Council  was  sent 


106  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

to  New  Castle  to  induce  the  seceding  members  to  return,  but 
without  success. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  Lloyd,  the  Proprietor  had  advised 
the  establishment  of  a  public  school.  In  his  comments  upon 
the  art  of  government,  which  he  had  promulgated  before 
starting  for  America,  and  when  he  was  about  to  draw  up 
his  original  form  of  constitution,  he  had  declared,  "  That, 
therefore,  which  makes  a  good  government  must  keep  it,  viz., 
men  of  wisdom  and  virtue ;  qualities  that,  because  they  de- 
scend not  with  worldly  inheritances,  must  be  carefully  propa- 
gated by  a  virtuous  education  of  youth ;  for  which  after  ages 
will  owe  more  to  the  care  and  prudence  of  founders  and  the 
successive  magistracy,  than  to  their  parents,  for  their  private 
patrimonies."  In  compliance  with  this  advice,  George  Keith, 
a  native  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  a  man  of  learning  and  note 
among  the  Quakers,  who  had  for  several  years  resided  in 
East  New  Jersey,  where  he  had  served  as  Surveyor-General, 
was  engaged  to  open  a  school  in  Philadelphia,  —  the  first 
free  school  in  the  Province.  His  salary  was  to  be  fifty  pounds 
per  annum,  with  a  house  provided  for  his  school  and  for  his 
family. 

THOMAS  LLOYD,  Deputy  Governor  of  Province;  WILLIAM 
MAKKHAM,  Deputy  Governor  of  Territories ;  March,  1691,  to 
April,  1693.  — Upon  the  receipt  of  intelligence  of  the  with- 
drawal from  the  Council  of  the  members  representing  the 
Territories,  and  a  due  notification  of  the  choice,  by  the  re- 
maining members,  of  Thomas  Lloyd  as  President,  Perm,  at 
all  times  desirous  of  gratifying  the  wishes  of  his  people,  and 
deeply  solicitous  of  making  his  Province  a  real  republic,  com- 
missioned Lloyd  Deputy  Governor  of  the  Province,  and 
"William  Markham,  the  former  Secretary,  who  had  withdrawn 
from  the  Council  with  the  seceding  members,  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Territories. 

Though  acceding  to  the  wishes  of  the  minority  of  the  Council 
in  granting  a  separation  of  the  Territories  from  the  Province, 
Penu,  nevertheless,  felt  himself  much  aggrieved  by  the  want 


THOMAS  LLOYD.  107 

of  harmony  and  union  among  his  friends.  After  recount- 
ing, in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  the  several  chinges  which  he 
had  made  in  the  administration  of  government,  upon  the 
advice  and  at  the  suggestion  of  his  people,  he  exclaims : 
"What  could  be  tenderer?  Now  I  perceive  Thomas  Lloyd  ia 
chosen  by  the  three  Upper,  but  not  the  three  Lower,  Counties, 
and  sits  down  with  his  broken  choice.  This  has  grieved  and 
wounded  me  and  mine,  I  fear  to  the  hazard  of  all.  What- 
ever the  morals  of  the  Lower  Counties  are,  it  was  embraced 
as  a  mercy  that  we  got  and  united  them  to  the  I^rovince ;  and 
a  great  charter  ties  them,  and  this  particular  ambition  has 

broken  it Had  they  learned  what  this  means,  I  will 

have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  there  had  been  no  breaches  nor 
animosities  there  till  I  had  come,  at  least." 

The  immediate  evils  which  the  Proprietor  had  anticipated 
from  the  separation  did  not  arise,  for  the  government  was 
administered  with  more  harmony  and  efficiency  than  it  had 
been  before  since  his  departure.  But,  though  unexpectedly 
relieved  of  difficulty  in  one  direction,  there  came  in  another 
what  proved  of  more  injury  to  the  colony  than  any  evil  which 
had  hitherto  existed.  It  was  a  schism  in  the  Church.  This, 
to  a  religion  whose  cardinal  tenet  is  peace  and  good  will,  was 
especially  vexatious.  It  was  incited  by  George  Keith,  who, 
after  having  taught  in  the  public  school  for  a  year,  had 
entered  the  ministry.  Of  quick  and  acute  perceptions,  and 
well  instructed  in  the  doctrines  of  his  Church,  but  with  little 
skill  or  moderation  in  the  management  of  affairs,  he  was  dis- 
posed to  push  his  logistics  to  absurd  conclusions.  He  was, 
moreover,  of  an  irascible  and  intemperate  disposition,  heap- 
ing abuse  upon  his  opponents  in  public  assemblies  and  by 
inflammatory  pamphlets.  He  held  that  there  was  too  great 
a  slackness  in  the  discipline  of  the  Church ;  that  members 
thereof  could  not  consistently  serve  as  magistrates  in  crimi- 
nal jurisprudence.  Upon  small  provocations,  if  any,  he  called 
his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  "  fools,  ignorant  heathens,  lyers, 
heretics,  rotten  ranters,  muggletonians."  Of  Lloyd  he  de- 
clared tha11  "  he  was  not  fit  to  be  a  governor,  and  that  h;a 


108  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

name  would  stink."  A  considerable  party  in  the  Church 
followed  him,  and  Keith  proclaimed  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  true  Society  of  Quakers,  stigmatizing  all  others  as 
apostates. 

After  submitting  to  the  intemperate  conduct  of  Keith 
until  forbearance  seemed  no  longer  to  be  a  virtue,  a  declara- 
tion or  testimony  of  denial  was  drawn  up  against  him  at  a 
meeting  of  the  ministers  of  Philadelphia,  which  was  con- 
firmed at  the  next  general  Yearly  Meeting.  From  the  force 
of  this  decree,  which  was  in  effect  an  act  of  expulsion,  he 
appealed  to  the  Society  in  London,  where  he  appeared  in  per- 
son in  his  own  defence ;  but  so  wrathful  and  intemperate  did 
he  show  himself,  that  the  action  of  the  Philadelphia  meeting 
was  confirmed.  He  subsequently  became  a  bitter  enemy  of 
the  Quakers,  and  withdrawing  entirely  from  them,  joined 
the  Church  of  England,  and  was  ordained  a  clergyman  by 
the  Bishop  of  London.  After  officiating  in  England,  in 
America,  and  again  in  England,  he  finally  died  an  unhappy 
man,  declaring  on  his  death-bed,  "  I  wish  I  had  died  when  I 
was  a  Quaker !  for  then  I  am  sure  it  would  have  been  well 
with  my  soul." 

The  inquiry  naturally  arises,  while  contemplating  the 
troubles  which  were  experienced  in  the  administration  of 
the  Government,  and  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  why  the 
Proprietor,  whose  personal  influence  in  his  Colony  and  in 
his  Church  was  puissant,  withheld  his  presence.  The 
necessity  which  kept  him  in  England  seems  to  have  been 
a  matter  of  deep  regret  to  him;  but  a  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances beyond  his  control  —  apparently  interpositions 
of  Providence  —  barred  his  return.  In  a  letter  to  Lloyd  of 
the  14th  of  April,  1691,  he  says:  "It  has  been  [my  absence] 
20,000  pounds  to  my  damage  in  the  country,  and  above 
10,000  pounds  here,  and  to  the  Province  500  families;  but 
the  wise  God  that  can  do  what  He  pleases,  as  well  as  see 
what  is  in  man's  heart,  is  able  to  requite  all ;  and  I  am  per- 
suaded that  all  shall  work  together  for  good  in  this  very 
thing,  if  we  can  overlook  all  that  i-tands  in  the  way  of  our 


THOMAS  LLOYD.  109 

views  Godward  in  public  matters.  See  that  all  be  done  pru- 
dently and  humbly,  and  keep  down  irreverence  and  loose- 
ness, and  cherish  industry  and  sobriety." 

The  principal  causes  of  his  detention  may  be  briefl} 
recited.  On  the  6th  of  December,  1684,  soon  after  his 
return  to  England,  Charles  II.,  from  whom  Penn  had  re- 
ceived his  original  charter,  died  suddenly  of  apoplexy. 
Charles  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  James,  Duke  of  York. 
James  proved  to  be  a  bigoted  Catholic,  though,  on  ascend- 
ing the  throne,  he  had  made  most  fair  promises  of  protection 
to  all  classes  of  worshiping  Christians.  James  had  been  a 
friend  to  Penn,  and  it  was  through  his  influence  that  Penn- 
sylvania had  been  granted  to  him.  When  James  came  to 
power,  Penn  had  his  ear,  and  daily  visited  White  Hall.  The 
King's  intolerance  finally  grew  to  such  a  pitch,  and  so  many 
were  brought  to  the  scaffold  for  opinion's  sake,  that  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  the  great  mass  of  the  English 
people  was  lost,  and  when  on  the  fifth  of  November,  William, 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  who  had  married  a  daughter  of  James, 
landed  upon  the  English  coast,  he  was  received  with  open 
arms,  and  William  and  Mary  were  declared  King  and  Queen, 
James  retiring  to  France.  The  mere  fact  of  the  intimacy 
of  Penn  with  James  brought  him  under  the  displeasure  of 
the  new  reigning  party,  and  he  was  held  to  bail  to  answer 
charges  of  complicity  with  the  deposed  monarch  in  hi?  high- 
handed practices.  These  vexatious  suits,  prolonged  from 
term  to  term  of  court,  though  void  of  proof,  would  not  admit 
of  his  honorable  departure.  At  the  Michaelmas  term  of 
1690  he  was  cleared  by  the  King's  Bench.  Court,  sitting  at 
Westminster,  of  the  charge  of  adhering  to  the  kingdom's 
enemies.  Immediately  thereafter,  he  published  proposals 
for  a  new  colony  which  he  designed  to  lead  in  person.  So 
numerous  was  the  promise  of  this  colony  that  a  convoy  had 
been  granted  for  it  by  the  Secretary  of  State  ;  but,  before  it 
was  ready  to  depart,  fresh  charges  were  brought  against 
Penn,  and  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  project  and  again 
prepare  for  trial  and  its  many  delays. 


CHAPTER  III. 

UNDER   THE  CROWN   OF   ENGLAND,    1G93-95. 

TJENJAMIN  FLETCHER.  —  WILLIAM  MARKHAM,  Deputy 
-D  Governor,  April,  1693,  to  March,  1695. — Though  enjoying 
the  respect  of  King  William,  Penn  was,  nevertheless,  re- 
garded with  disfavor  by  the  party  in  power,  and  every  oppor- 
tunity was  seized  by  his  enemies  to  defeat  his  designs.  Pre- 
vented thus  by  false  accusations  from  joining  his  colony, 
while  troubles  were  fomented  among  his  people  during  his 
absence,  he  was  finally  brought  to  the  humiliation  of  seeing 
his  authority  in  his  Province  wrested  from  him  and  given  to 
another.  On  the  21st  of  October,  1692,  a  commission  was 
issued  by  William  and  Mary,  to  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Governor 
of  New  York,  directing  him  to  assume  the  government  of 
the  Province  and  Territories  of  Pennsylvania.  Fletcher  did 
not  receive  the  commission  until  some  months  later,  and  on 
the  19th  of  April,  1693,  wrote  to  Governor  Lloyd,  that  he 
should  commence  his  journey  to  Philadelphia  on  the  follow- 
ing Monday,  and  desiring  that  notice  of  his  corning  should 
be  given  to  the  principal  freeholders,  when  their  Majesties' 
commands  would  be  communicated  to  them. 

Fletcher  came,  dressed  in  all  the  pomp  and  splendor  of 
royalty,  attended  by  a  numerous  retinue,  gorgeously  bedecked 
with  feathers  and  gold  lace,  to  whom  the  government  was 
surrendered  without  opposition  or  remonstrance.  The  sub- 
serviency of  Lloyd  and  Markham,  on  the  occasion,  was 
sharply  censured  by  Penn,  who  also  wrote  to  Fletcher,  "  cau- 
tioning him  to  beware  of  meddling,"  and  reminding  him  of 
his  "  particular  obligation  to  him."  Fletcher  immediately 
summoned  the  Assembly,  but  in  doing  so,  raised  the  opposi 

no 


BENJAMIN  FLETCHER.  Ill 

tion  of  the  Council,  which  began  to  badger  him  with  remon- 
strances, alleging  that,  by  the  charter  of  Charles  II.,  Penn 
was  empowered  to  make  laws  for  the  government  of  the 
Province,  and  that  under  that  charter,  provision  had  been 
made  for  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly  on  the  10th  of  Janu- 
ary, and  protesting  against  calling  it  for  legislative  purposes 
at  any  other  time.  The  Assembly,  however,  met,  and  the 
members  being  duly  qualified,  Fletcher  demanded  money  to 
meet  expenses  which  had  been  incurred  in  defending  Albany 
against  the  French  and  Indians,  the  French  being  at  this 
time  at  war  with  the  English ;  and  Count  Frontignac,  the 
governor  of  Canada,  having  incited  the  Indians  to  join  him 
in  hostilities,  Fletcher  fortified  his  demand  by  a  letter  from 
Queen  Mary,  in  which  she  expressed  her  will  and  pleasure 
that  all  the  Colonies,  upon  the  application  of  the  governor  of 
New  York,  should  contribute  men  and  money  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  threatened  frontier.  The  Assembly  was  careful 
of  its  privileges,  stubbornly  resisting  any  infringement  there- 
of; but  finally  passed  a  rate  bill  of  a  penny  a  pound  for  the 
support  of  government,  and  a  poll-tax  of  six  shillings,  which 
yielded  over  seven  thousand  pounds.  A  number  of  bills 
were  passed,  and  laws  already  in  force  confirmed,  when,  the 
business  having  been  completed,  Fletcher  appointed  William 
Markham  as  his  Deputy  Governor,  dissolved  the  Assembly  at 
their  request,  and  departed  to  his  own  Colony.  Fletcher  occa- 
sionally visited  the  Colony,  and  again  met  the  Assembly  in 
the  following  year,  when  he  addressed  them  with  many 
honeyed  words  in  his  message,  saying,  "  that  he  considered 
their  principles,  that  they  could  not  carry,  arms,  nor  levy 
money  to  make  war,  though  for  their  own  defence,  yet  he 
hoped  they  would  not  refuse  to  feed  the  hungry,  and  clothe 
the  naked;  that  was,  to  supply  the  Indian  nations  with  sir;li 
necessaries,  as  may  influence  their  continued  friendship  to 
these  Provinces." 

On  the  10th  of  July,  1694,  Thomas  Lloyd,  after  a  sickness 
of  a  malignant  fever  of  only  six  days'  continuance,  died  in 
the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  born  in  Montgom- 


112  UNDER  THE  CROWN  OF  ENGLAND. 

eryshire,  North  Wales,  and  being  of  ancient  and  respectable 
family,  was  in  the  way  of  advancement,  when  he  became  a 
Quaker,  and  attaching  himself  closely  to  this  sect,  came  to 
America  with  Penn,  with  the  design  of  making  it  his  home. 
Though  disinclined  to  politics,  he  was  made  a  chief  councillor, 
and  upon  the  departure  of  Penn,  became  in  fact  Governor, 
which  position  he  held,  with  slight  interruptions,  until  his 
death.  His  learning,  wisdom,  and  moderation  enabled  him 
to  exert  a  most  healthful  influence  over  the  infant  Colony, 
and  to  shape  the  government  to  beneficent  ends.  It  was  at 
a  period  in  the  history  of  governments,  when  popular  rights 
were  little  known,  and  the  chief  danger  to  be  apprehended 
was  from  pushing  liberty  to  the  license  of  extravagant  acts, 
unchastened  and  unrestrained  by  exalted  moral  principles 
and  a  degree  of  moderation  rarely  found  in  an  inexperienced 
popular  assembly.  The  character  of  Lloyd  was  well  suited 
to  such  an  emergency.  Void  of  arbitrary  or  ambitious  views, 
devoted  to  the  principles  of  truth  and  justice  in  the  abstract, 
he,  nevertheless,  was  so  well  schooled  in  the  practices  of 
human  nature,  as  to  realize  that  the  nearest  approach  to  ab- 
solute verity  in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  is  attained  by  an 
accommodating  policy,  and  that  there  is  danger  of  losing  all 
by  an  arbitrary  one.  In  his  controversy  with  Keith,  the  su- 
periority of  his  own  reasoning  and  judgment  was  apparent, 
and  his  final  triumph  was  most  fortunate  for  the  Colony,  and 
honorable  to  himself.  He  died  in  great  peace  of  mind.  In 
his  last  hours  he  said  :  "  Friends,  I  love  you  all ;  I  am  going 
from  you.  I  die  in  unity  and  love  with  all  faithful  friends. 
I  have  fought  a  good  fight ;  I  have  kept  the  faith ;  which 
stands  not  in  the  wisdom  of  words,  but  in  the  power  of  God; 
I  have  fought,  not  for  strife  and  contention,  but  for  the  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel;  — 
I  lay  down  my  head  in  peace,  and  desire  you  may  all  do  so. 
Friends,  farewell  all." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WILLIAM    PENN,   PROPRIETOR,    1695-1718. 

WILLIAM  MARKHAM,  Deputy  Governor,  March,  1695, 
to  December,  1699. — Lords  Rochester,  Ranelagh,  and 
Sidney,  countenanced  and  assisted  by  Lord  Somers,  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham,  and  Sir  John  Trenchard,  in  an  interview 
which  was  granted  them  for  the  purpose,  sought  of  King 
William  an  acquittal  of  the  false  charges  which  had  been 
brought  against  Penn,  and  a  restoration  of  his  Province,, 
showing  most  conclusively  his  innocence  of  any  criminal 
action  or  design,  or  even  desire,  inimical  to  his  Majesty's 
government,  at  the  same  time  pointing  to  the  great  injury 
and  loss  which  he  had  sustained  in  being  prevented  froim 
leaving  the  country  to  administer  the  affairs  of  his  Colony, 
The  King  frankly  told  them  in  reply  that  Penn  was  his  old 
acquaintance,  and  that  he  should  consider  himself  discharged 
from  all  accusations,  and  at  liberty  to  pursue  his  inoffensive 
way  of  life.  Whereupon  Penn,  \>j  invitation,  visited  the 
Secretary,  and  received  formal  assurance  of  his  freedom,  and 
on  the  20th  of  August,  1694,  the  government  of  his  Province 
was  restored  to  him  by  royal  commission. 

In  the  preamble  to  this  patent  the  ostensible  reasons  for 
depriving  Penn  of  power  and  intrusting  it  to  Governor 
Fletcher  are  thus  set  forth :  "  Upon  information  that,  by 
reason  of  great  miscarriages  in  the  government  of  our 
Province  of  Pennsylvania  in  America,  and  the  absence  of 
the  Proprietor,  the  same  was  fallen  into  disorder  and  con- 
fusion, by  means  whereof,  not  only  the  public  peace  and 
administration  of  justice  was  broken  and  violated,  but  there 
was  also  great  want  of  provision  for  the  guard  and  defense 
8  113 


1U  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

of  our  said  Province  against  our  enemies,  whereby  it  was 
apprehended  that  our  said  Province  and  the  adjacent  Colonies 
were  much  in  danger  of  being  lost  from  the  crown  of  Eng- 
land, &c."  It  is  probable  that  these  were  the  reasons  set 
forth  by  the  enemies  of  Penn,  and  were  the  ones  upon  which 
the  royal  action  was  taken ;  but,  as  was  afterwards  conclu- 
sively shown  to  the  King,  they  were  groundless.  Hostility 
to  all  friends  of  the  deposed  monarch,  and  a  determination 
to  compel  the  Province  to  contribute  for  the  common  defense 
of  all  the  American  colonies,  which  was  despaired  of  under 
Quaker  rule,  were,  in  reality,  probably  among  the  most 
potent  of  these  causes, 

Penn  commissioned  Markham  on  the  24th  of  September, 
1694,  as  his  Deputy  Governor,  who,  on  the  20th  of  the  fol- 
lowing April,  met  the  Council,  and,  on  the  10th  of  September, 
the  Assembly.  In  calling,  the  Assembly,  Markham  disre- 
garded the  organic  law,  assuming  that  the  suspension  of  the 
Proprietor  had  annulled  it,  and  that  he  was  invested  with 
supreme  power  until  a  new  constitution  was  framed.  The 
Assembly  quietly  acquiesced  in  this  view,  as  there  were  some 
provisions  in  the  old  instrument  which  they  were  clamorous 
to  have  changed.  Accordingly,  when  the  money  bill  came 
to  be  acted  on,  a  new  bill  of  settlement  or  constitution  was 
attached  to  it,  and  passed.  This  was  approved  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  was  immediately  put  in  operation,  being  the  third 
frame  of  government  adopted,  which  continued  in  force  until 
1701.  By  this  instrument  the  Council  was  made  to  consist 
of  twelve  members,  two  from  each  county,  and  the  Assembly 
of  twenty-four  in  like  manner  apportioned. 

While  hostilities  between  France  and  England  lasted,  the 
French  had  many  privateers  upon  the  ocean.  After  peace 
was  concluded,  some  of  the  privateersmen  paid  no  heed  to  its 
conditions,  but  continued  their  forcible  seizures,  which  now 
was  piracy.  Taking  advantage  of  the  pacific  policy  of  the 
Quaker  Province,  they  were  accustomed  to  run  into  the  Dela- 
ware for  safe  harbor.  To  break  up  this  dangerous  and  most 
dishonorable  practice,  the  Governor  and  Council  issued  a 


WILLIAM  PENN.  1 1 5 

proclamation,  calling  upon  the  magistrates  and  all  good 
citizens  to  join  in  preventing  it.  It  was  charged  by  the 
enemies  of  the  Proprietor  that  evil-disposed  persons  in  the 
Colony  were  privy  to  these  practices,  and  that  the  inability 
of  the  Province  to  prevent  them  was  a  proof  of  the  impotence 
of  a  government  which  eschewed  force.  Penn  felt  keenly  this 
reproach,  and  urged  the  exercise  of  constant  vigilance  for  its 
removal. 

WILLIAM  PENN,  Proprietor  and  Governor,  December,  1699, 
to  November,  1701.  —  In  July,  1699,  Penn,  with  his  family,  set 
sail  for  America,  and,  after  a  wearisome  voyage  of  three 
months,  arrived  in  the  Colony.  He  had  now  come  with  the 
design  of  making  it  his  final  abiding  place.  To  settle  a  stable 
government  which  should  exert  a  benignant  influence  over 
his  people ;  to  renew  pledges  of  friendship  and  ever-during 
peace  with  the  Indians ;  to  secure  marital  and  civil  rights  to 
negro  slaves,  and  to  provide  for  their  spiritual  teaching; 
and  to  secure  for  his  beloved  city  of  Philadelphia  a  liberal 
and  just  charter, — were  the  first  objects  of  his  care  and  solici- 
tude. For  eighteen  months  the  new  constitution  was  under 
consideration,  and  the  subject  of  long  debate  in  the  Assembly. 
It  was  finally  adopted  on  the  28th  of  October,  1701.  By  a 
supplementary  article,  evidently  wrung  from  him  with  great 
reluctance,  it  was  provided  that  the  Province  and  the  Terri- 
tories might,  at  any  time  within  three  years,  dissolve  their 
union.  This  privilege  was  granted  as  the  only  method  of 
pacifying  a  long  and  uncompromising  controversy. 

ANDREW  HAMILTON,  Deputy  Governor,  November,  1701, 
to  April,  1703. — In  the  midst  of  his  arduous  labors,  sin- 
cerely devoted  to  the  good  of  his  Colony,  Penn  received 
intelligence  that  a  bill  was  before  the  British  House  of 
Lords  for  changing  the  proprietaryship  to  royal  governors, 
and  a  message  from  his  friends  urging  his  immediate  return 
to  defend  his  rights.  Though  fatal  to  his  fondly  cherished 
purpose  of  spending  the  remainder  of  his  days  with  his 


116  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Colony,  he  determined  to  go,  and  urging  the  Assembly  to 
the  dispatch  of  business,  finally  completed  the  charter  and 
other  affairs  of  importance,  called  together  the  Indians, 
with  whom  he  had  lived  on  the  most  intimate  terms,  feasting 
in  their  wigwams,  and  often  entertaining  their  chiefs  at  his 
mansion,  to  bid  them  a  final  farewell ;  and  having  selected 
Andrew  Hamilton  to  be  his  Deputy  Governor,  and  James- 
Logan  Provincial  Secretary  and  Clerk  of  the  Council,  he 
took  his  departure  on  the  1st  of  November,  1701.  Hamilton 
had  been  one  of  the  proprietors  of  East  Jersey,  and  Governor 
of  East  and  West  Jersey.  Logan  had  accompanied  Penn  to 
the  Province  in  this  last  visit,  and  seems  to  have  enjoyed  his 
unlimited  trust. 

Through  the  interposition  of  the  friends  of  Penn,  the 
House  of  Lords  was  prevailed  on  to  postpone  action  upon  the 
question  of  appointing  royal  governors,  and  soon  afterwards, 
on  the  18th  of  May,  King  William  died.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Princess  Anne  of  Denmark,  and  Penn  soon  became  fixed 
in  the  royal  favor,  taking  up  his  residence  at  Kensington, 
that  he  might  be  near  to  Court.  The  danger  of  losing  the 
immediate  control  of  his  Colony  was  now  past;  but  there 
was  still  a  strong  party  in  Parliament  opposed  to  the  liberal 
government  which  he  was  striving  to  found.  The  party  of 
the  Established  Church  showed  itself  particularly  inimical, 
alleging  that  in  time  of  war  a  Province  under  Quaker  rule 
would  invite  invasion  and  conquest,  and  would  furnish  a  re- 
treat for  privateers ;  that  the  solemnity  of  an  oath  should  be 
required  in  civil  and  criminal  jurisprudence  uniformly 
throughout  all  her  Majesty's  dominions.  These  views  were 
urged,  and  so-  far  prevailed  as  to  induce  the  Parliament  to  pass 
an  Act  requiring  that  the  appointment  of  deputy  governors 
should  have  the  royal  assent.  Factious  opposition  was  made 
to  the  confirmation  of  Governor  Hamilton,  it  being  alleged 
that  he  had  been  engaged  in  illicit  trade.  The  validity  of  his 
acts  until  confirmed  was  also  questioned.  Thus  was  a  most 
harassing  system  of  opposition  to  the  Proprietor's  govern- 
ment kept  up,  every  fault  being  exaggerated,  and  many  mere 


EDWARD  SHIPPEN.  117 

reports  and  rumors,  void  of  any  foundation  in  truth,  being 
magnified  before  the  eyes  of  the  Queen.  The  appointment 
of  Hamilton  finally  received  the  royal  confirmation ;  but  so 
persistent  was  the  opposition  to  the  interests  of  the  Proprietor, 
that  he  was  obliged  either  to  keep  an  agent,  or  remain  him- 
self near  the»court,  to  answer  the  hurtful  charges  constantly 
brought  against  his  Province  and  his  rule. 

In  the  October  session  of  the  Assembly,  the  representatives 
of  the  Territories  refused  to  meet  those  of  the  Province, 
claiming  the  privilege  of  separation  by  the  supplementary 
article  of  the  new  charter,  and  expressing  their  firm  deter- 
mination to  remain  apart.  Hamilton  strongly  urged  the  ad- 
vantages of  union,  and  brought  every  influence  that  he  could 
devise  to  bear,  in  order  to  secure  this  result ;  but  without 
effect.  He  also  made  preparations  for  the  defence  of  the 
Colony,  by  organizing  a  military  force,  of  which  George 
Lowther,  subsequently  attorney-general,  was  the  first  captain. 
On  the  20th  of  April,  1703,  Governor  Hamilton  died  sud- 
denly while  on  a  visit  to  Amboy,  where  his  family  were  then 
residing. 

EDWARD  SHIPPEX,  President  of  Council;  April,  1703, 
to  February,  1704.  —  By  the  death  of  Hamilton,  the  exercise 
of  executive  power  devolved  upon  the  Council,  of  which  Ed- 
ward Shippen  was  president.  To  the  Assembly  of  1703,  the 
people,  approving  the  action  of  the  Lower  Counties,  elected 
double  the  number  of  representatives,  as  required  by  charter, 
provided  the  privilege  of  separation  was  claimed ;  but  little 
was  accomplished,  the  Council  interposing  objections  to  the 
order  of  business,  alleging  that  the  new  charter  conferred  no 
power  upon  it  to  join  in  the  enactment  of  laws.  In  this 
assembly  it  was  finally  settled  that  the  Province  and  the  Ter- 
ritories should  ever  after  act  separately  in  a  legislative  capa- 
city. This  separation  proved  final,  the  two  bodies  never 
again  meeting  in  common. 

JOHN  EVANS,  Deputy  Governor,  February,  1704,  to  Feh 


118  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

ruary,  1709. —  The  choice  of  a  Deputy  Governor,  to  succeed 
Hamilton,  fell  upon  John  Evans,  of  Welsh  origin,  only  twen 
ty-six  *  years  of  age,  of  good  natural  abilities,  but  volatile. 
He  was  not  a  Quaker,  nor  even  a  man  of  exemplary  morals. 
He  was  doubtless  selected  out  of  deference  to  the  views  of 
the  party  at  Court,  who  believed  that  a  stable  Vand  efficient 
government  could  not  be  administered  upon  the  peace  prin- 
ciples of  the  Quakers.  Indeed,  Governor  Fletcher  had  de- 
clared in  1693,  in  one  of  his  communications  to  the  Assem- 
bly :  "  The  constitution  of  their  Majesties'  government,  and 
that  of  Mr.  Penn,  are  in  direct  opposition,  one  to  the  other." 
Evans  arrived  in  the  Colony  in  February,  1704,  and  with  him 
came  William  Penn,  Jr.,  the  second  and  only  surviving  son 
of  William  Penn  by  his  first  marriage.  Evans  was  expected 
and  had  indeed  promised  to  be  much  influenced  and  guided 
by  the  advice  of  Logan,  in  whom  the  Proprietor  continued 
to  place  entire  confidence.  The  number  of  the  Council  was 
by  him  increased,  and  the  son  of  the  Proprietor  selected  as 
one  of  the  new  members. 

The  first  care  of  the  young  Governor  in  a  public  capacity 
was  to  endeavor  to  secure  the  union  of  the  Territories  and  the 
Province  in  the  Assembly.  Such  arguments  were  presented 
to  the  representatives  of  the  Territories,  that  they  seemed 
willing  to  return ;  but  the  representatives  of  the  Province 
were  now  unwilling  to  receive  them  back;  and  further  at- 
tempts to  bring  about  a  reunion  were  abandoned.  This  sep- 
aration finally  resulted  in  the  erection  of  the  Territories  into 
the  State  of  Delaware.  The  obstinacy  of  the  Provincial  As- 
sembly in  opposing  this  reunion  was  the  beginning  of  dis- 
cords between  it  and  the  party  that  adhered  to  the  Governor, 
which  continued  throughout  the  entire  period  of  his  rule.  A 
bill  confirming  the  late  provincial  charter,  granted  by  Penn, 
was  passed  by  the  Assembly,  which  contained  provisions 
that  the  Governor  believed  unwarrantable,  and  from  which 
he  accordingly  withheld  his  sanction.  Whereupon  the 

*  Watson,  in  his  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  says  twenty-one ;  but  Gordon,  in  hia 
History  of  Pennsylvania,  twenty-six. 


JOHN  EVANS.  119 

Assembly  appointed  a  committee  to  draw  up  an  address  to 
the  Proprietor,  asking  a  redress  of  grievances,  the  adiress 
to  be  based  upon  certain  resolutions  passed  by  the  As- 
sembly. It  was  drawn  by  Joseph  Wilcox;  but  instead  of 
being  governed  by  the  temperate  resolutions  of  the  Assembly, 
he  launched  out  into  a  torrent  of  abuse  of  the  Governor, 
and  even  of  the  Proprietor.  This  paper  was  not  approved 
by  the  other  members  of  the  committee,  to  only  four  of  whom 
was  it  shown.  It  was  signed  by  David  Lloyd,  Speaker  of  the 
House,  who  headed  the  party  in  opposition  to  the  Governor 
and  Secretary  Logan.  Logan  and  Lloyd  were  the  real  heads 
of  the  two  opposing  factions,  both  men  of  ability  and  learn- 
ing ;  the  one  a  fast  friend  and  representative  of  the  Proprietor, 
both  in  his  public  and  private  interests ;  the  other  the  cham- 
pion of  the  popular  party. 

The  Assembly  of  1705  was  largely  composed  of  the  same 
elements  as  the  preceding  one,  of  which  Lloyd  was  again 
elected  Speaker.  The  quarrels  of  the  former  session  were  per- 
petuated, and  the  Governor,  despairing  of  any  useful  legisla- 
tion, dismissed  it.  The  people  finally  became  alarmed  by  the 
fruitless  proceedings  of  these  two  sessions,  and  elected  to  the 
next  House  a  majority  of  members  friendl}*  to  the  Proprie- 
tor, only  eleven  of  the  former  House  being  returned.  Joseph 
Growdeu  was  elected  Speaker,  and  the  business  of  the 
session  was  transacted  with  eminent  success  and  dispatch. 

Evans  had  little  respect  for  the  religious  principles  of  the 
Quakers.  Disregarding  their  convictions,  he,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  nistory  of  the  Province,  made  a  call  for  militia 
by  public  proclamation.  The  defence  of  the  Colonies  against 
the  invasion  of  the  French  and  Indians,  who  had  assumed  an 
attitude  of  hostility,  had  borne  heavily  upon  those  Colonies 
most  exposed.  Little  assistance  had  ever  been  rendered  by 
Pennsylvania.  This  call  for  militia  was  made  by  Evans  in 
good  faith,  with  the  desire  of  rendering  such  aid  in  the  com- 
mon defence  as  was  rightfully  claimed  and  expected  by  the 
other  Colonies.  But  the  call  met  no  response ;  and  the  Gov- 
ernor, disappointed  by  this  lack  of  spirit,  and  embittered  by 


1 20  PR OPRIETAR T  GO VERNMENT. 

his  previous  quarrels  with  the  Assembly,  formed  a  most 
discreditable  plan  for  testing  the  steadfastness  of  the  Quaker 
faith. 

On  the  day  of  the  annual  fair  at  Philadelphia,  Evans,  by 
previous  agreement  with  accomplices  at  New  Castle,  arranged 
to  have  a  messenger  dispatched  with  great  haste  and  appear- 
ance of  consternation  to  the  Governor,  bearing  intelligence 
that  a  French  fleet  had  arrived  in  the  Delaware,  and  was 
laying  waste  the  territory,  and  would  soon  arrive  before  the 
city.  This  intelligence  was  instantly  published,  and  the  Gov- 
ernor, mounting  his  horse,  rode  through  the  streets  with  a 
drawn  sword,  commanding  and  entreating  the  people  to 
rush  to  arms,  regardless  of  sect,  party,  or  religious  opinion, 
and  hasten  to  the  public  defence.  The  wildest  consternation 
prevailed.  The  shipping  and  small  boats  were  run  up  the 
river,  and  into  the  small  creeks,  the  large  craft  being  carried 
above  Burlington.  Plate  and  valuables  were  thrown  into 
wells ;  many  hid  themselves  in  trepidation  ;  others  betook 
themselves  to  the  forests ;  and  several  women  were  said  to 
have  been  untimely  delivered  of  children,  through  fear. 
Before  nightfall,  however,  the  ruse  was  discovered,  and  the 
authors  of  the  cruel  farce  were  glad  to  seek  safety  in  flight. 

This  contemptible  experiment  was  entirely  futile  in  se- 
curing the  result  which  the  Governor  sought.  It  was  the 
day  on  which  the  Quakers  held  their  Weekly  Meeting;  and 
regardless  of  the  tumult  and  the  consternation  which  pre- 
vailed, they  met  as  though  nothing  unusual  was  occurring, 
and  engaged  in  .their  appointed  devotions. 

By  this  despicable  conduct,  the  Governor  drew  upon  him- 
self the  contempt  of  all  right-thinking  men.  Besides,  many 
of  his  official  acts  were  unjustifiable,  or  little  calculated  to 
secure  the  confidence  of  his  people.  He  had  caused  the 
erection  of  a  fort  at  New  Castle,  before  which  all  shipping 
ascending  the  river  was  brought  to,  and  tribute  demanded, — 
a  practice  unauthorized  by  charter,  and  vexatious  to  com- 
merce. It  was  only  by  the  stern  resistance  of  prominent 
citizens  that  this  unlawful  procedure  was  broken  up.  A 


CHARLES  GOOKIN.  121 

bitter  quarrel  sprang  up  between  the  Governor  and  Lloyd, 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  because  the  latter,  in  a  personal 
conference,  refused  to  stand  when  addressing  the  Governor. 
Charges  and  counter-charges  were  also  brought  against  Lloyd 
and  Logan,  as  the  leaders  of  the  two  parties ;  and  thus,  in 
acrimonious  and  fruitless  contentions,  his  administration  was 
passed.  He  was  relieved  in  February,  1709.  Possessed  of  a 
good  degree  of  learning  and  refinement,  and  accustomed  to 
the  gay  society  of  the  British  metropolis,  he  found  in  the 
grave  and  serious  habits  of  Friends  a  type  of  life  and  char- 
acter which  he  failed  to  comprehend,  and  with  which  he  could, 
consequently,  have  little  sympathy.  How  widely  he  mistook 
the  Quaker  character  is  seen  in  the  result  of  his  wild  and  hair- 
brained  experiment  to  test  their  faith.  His  general  tenor  of 
life  seems  to  have  been  of  a  piece  with  this.  Watson  says  : 
"  The  Indians  at  Conestoga  complained  of  him,  when  there, 
as  misbehaving  himself  to  their  women  ;  "  and  that,  in  1702, 
"  Solomon  Cresson,  going  his  round  at  night,  entered  a  tavern 
to  suppress  a  riotous  assembly,  and  found  there  John  Evans, 
Esq.,  the  Governor,  who  fell  to  beating  Cresson." 

COLONEL  CHARLES  GOOKIN,  Deputy  Governor,  Feb- 
ruary, 1709,  to  May,  1717. — When  it  became  evident  to  the 
Proprietor  that  he  would  be  obliged  to  recall  Governor 
Evans,  the  old  difficulty  of  finding  a  suitable  person  for 
a  successor  wras  experienced.  He  had  thought  of  pro- 
posing his  son,  who  was  already  in  America;  but  from 
this  he  was  dissuaded  by  his  friends,  on  account  of  his  son's 
youth  and  inexperience.  Colonel  Charles  Gookin  was  finally 
selected,  because  of  his  grave  and  thoughtful  demeanor,  and 
his  supposed  wisdom  and  moderation,  and  his  appointment 
received  the  royal  assent.  But  it  finally  appeared,  by  his  own 
testimony  before  the  Council,  in  defence  of  certain  charges 
brought  against  him  near  the  close  of  his  term  of  office,  that 
he  had  been  subject  to  fits  of  derangement.  This  was,  how- 
ever, unknown  at  the  time  of  his  selection,  and  remained  a 
secret,  except  so  far  as  his  own  erratic  conduct  throughout  hif» 
administration  disclosed  it. 


122  PR OPRIETAR Y  GO VERNMENT. 

The  giddy  conduct  of  Evans  had  brought  reproach  upon 
the  Government,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  his  suc- 
cessor shared  the  opprobrium  of  his  devious  course,  his 
quarrels  being  in  a  measure  entailed  upon  Gookin,  who 
had  no  sooner  arrived  in  the  Colony  than  charges  were 
preferred  against  the  late  Governor  of  high  crimes  and 
misdemeanors,  and  Gookin  was  asked  to  institute  criminal 
proceedings  against  him.  This  he  prudently  declined,  but  a 
fierce  contention  over  the  subject  arose  between  the  Council, 
which  was  charged  with  being  accessory  to  the  misdeeds  of 
Evans,  an'd  the  Assembly,  which  was  clamorous  for  the  prose- 
cution. .  Finding  the  Governor  little  inclined  to  give  heed  to 
its  demands,  the  Assembly  was  stimulated  to  new  endeavors 
to  find  causes  of  complaint  against  him.  He  had  been  guilty, 
as  they  alleged,  of  a  breach  of  official  etiquette  by  visiting 
New  Castle  during  the  sitting  of  the  Assembly;  of  assuming 
to  grant  marriage  licenses  and  pardons ;  of  discontinuing 
prosecutions;  of  appointing  one  person  to  several  offices; 
and  the  like  petty  offences. 

Early  in  his  administration  the  Colony  was  called  on  for 
men  and  money  to  aid  in  an  expedition  against  Canada.  At 
the  instance  of  the  Governor,  instead  of  men,  an  equivalent 
of  money  was  agreed  to,  and  the  Assembly  was  solicited  to 
appropriate  four  thousand  pounds.  But  this  body,  which 
had  ever  displayed  an  ingenuity  most  fruitful  in  framing 
excuses  for  voting  away  the  people's  money,  drew  a  bill  for 
barely  five  hundred  pounds,  and  even  hedged  that  about  with 
impracticable  provisos.  And  now  commenced  anew  a  series 
of  most  vexatious  counter-charges  and  prosecutions  between 
Lloyd  and  Logan.  In  the  midst  of  these,  Logan,  after  having 
demanded  and  failed  to  obtain  a  trial,  returned  to  England, 
where  he  laid  before  the  Proprietor  a  full  account  of  the 
changes  and  growth  in  the  Colony  since  his  departure,  and 
drew  a  most  affecting  picture  of  the  troubles  and  contentions 
by  which  the  Government  had  been  rent  and  the  entire 
Province  filled  with  discord.  The  Proprietor  was  greatly 
moved  by  this  recital,  and  wrote  a  long  letter  to  his  people, 


CHARLES  GOOKIN.  123 

commencing  in  the  following  strain :  "  It  is  a  mourniul  con- 
sideration, and  the  cause  of  deep  affliction  to  me,  that  I  am 
forced,  by  the  oppressions  and  disappointments  which  have 
fallen  to  my  share  in  this  life,  to  speak  to  the  people  of  that 
Province  in  a  language  I  once  hoped  I  should  never  have 
occasion  to  use.  But  the  many  troubles  and  oppositions  that 
I  have  met  with  from  thence,  oblige  me,  in  plainness  and  free- 
dom, to  expostulate  with  you  concerning  the  causes  of  them." 
In  a  kindly  but  most  earnest  tone,  he  endeavored  to  reconcile 
their  differences,  and,  with  the  voice  of  paternal  tenderness, 
to  recall  them  to  a  sense  of  duty.  Finally,  that  they  might 
be  prepared  for  a  change  in  their  relations  to  him,  should  he 
be  compelled  to  adopt  it,  he  tells  them,  that  if,  after  a  fair 
election,  a  plurality  of  the  Assembly  persist  in  their  opposi- 
tion to  his  government,  he  would  then,  without  further  sus- 
pense, know  what  he  had  to  rely  upon. 

But  before  this  letter  was  received,  an  election  was  held,  at 
which  not  one  of  the  members  of  the  former  Assembly  was 
returned,  the  people  having  become  thoroughly  disgusted 
with  the  dissensions  which  had  prevailed.  The  weight  of  the 
Proprietor's  expostulations,  when  his  letter  w^as  received,  was 
also  felt,  and,  at  the  succeeding  session,  the  utmost  harmony 
was  preserved,  the  course  of  legislation  being  uninterrupted, 
and  directed  to  questions  of  vital  interest  to  the  Province. 
A  subject  was  brought  before  the  Assembly  at  this  session 
which  marks  the  initiation  of  a  policy  that,  steadily  growing 
in  importance,  has  since  rocked  the  nation  of  which  the  Colony 
came  to  form  a  part,  from  centre  to  circumference,  and  was 
near  rending  it  in  twain.  This  was  the  question  of  African 
slavery.  An  Act  was  passed  staying  the  further  course  of  the 
nefarious  traffic  in  negroes;  but  this  most  humane  and  wise 
enactment  was  annulled  by  the  Crown,  the  importation  of 
these  unfortunate  people  being  regarded  by  the  home  gov- 
ernment with  much  favor  as  a  source  of  revenue  and  pros- 
perity to  the  Colonies. 

In  1712,  Penn,  borne  down  by  the  weight  of  years  and  in- 
creasing cares,  his  Colony  a  source  of  little  profit  to  him,  and 


124  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

himself  embarrassed  with  debts  incurred  in  its  interest, 
finally  determined  to  transfer  it  to  the  crown  in  consideration 
of  twelve  thousand  pounds.  But  before  the  legal  papers 
were  executed,  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  by  which  he 
was  reduced  to  the  feebleness  of  infancy,  and  the  transfer 
was  suspended. 

Until  the  session  of  1714,  uninterrupted  harmony  had  pre- 
vailed between  the  Assembly  and  Governor,  though  the  salary 
of  the  latter  had  frequently  been  left  in  arrears,  half  the  pit- 
tance allowed  him  being  often  unpaid  at  the  close  of  the  fiscal 
year.  It  appears  by  the  Logan  MSS.,  as  quoted  by  Gordon, 
that  Gookin  was  a  bachelor,  and  was  selected  because  he 
would  be  a  cheap  governor.  The  15th  of  February,  the  day  for 
the  convening  of  the  Assembly,  was  stormy,  and  a  quorum 
failed  to  assemble.  When,  on  the  following  day,  an  organi- 
zation was  effected,  and  a  committee  was  sent  to  wait  on  the 
Governor,  embittered  by  their  former  neglect,  he  refused  to 
recognize  them,  their  best  endeavors  failing  to  soften  his 
temper.  The  committee  appointed  to  remonstrate  with  him 
was  driven  from  his  door  with  threats  and  reproaches,  and 
the  Assembly  was  obliged  to  adjourn  without  attending  to 
any  business. 

The  breach  thus  opened  was  widened  from  year  to  year, 
until  1717,  when,  upon  the  petition  of  the  Council,  Gookin 
was  removed.  His  conduct  had  become  more  and  more  un- 
reasonable, until,  towards  the  close  of  his  term,  he  had  turned 
upon  his  most  faithful  friends,  and  demeaned  himself  in  an 
extravagant  manner,  the  effect  no  doubt  of  his  lack  of  entire 
soundness  of  mind.  lie  is  said  to  have  been  much  under 
the  influence  of  his  brother-in-law,  Birmingham,  for  whom  a 
township  in  Bucks  County  was  named.  He  once  removed 
all  the  justices  of  New  Castle  County  for  doing  their  duty  in 
an  action  against  Birmingham,  leaving  the  county  without  a 
magistrate  for  six  weeks.  At  another  time,  when  the  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  at  New  Castle  would  not  admit  a 
certain  commission  of  his  to  be  published  in  court,  he  sent 
for  one  of  the  judges  and  kicked  him. 


SIR   WILLIAM  KEITH.  125 

SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH,  Deputy  Governor,  May,  1717,  to 
July,  1726.  —  Gookin  was  succeeded  by  Sir  William  Keith, 
of  the  north  of  Scotland,  and  before  his  appointment  as 
Governor,  had  held  the  office  of  surveyor  of  customs  for  the 
southern  Provinces,  at  a  salary  of  five  hundred  pounds.  He 
had  occasionally  visited  Philadelphia,  and  was  familiar  with 
the  political  opinions  prevailing  in  the  Province.  He  had 
formed  the  acquaintance  and  secured  the  confidence  of 
Logan,  and  other  of  the  leading  citizens,  and  had  pre- 
viously done  the  Proprietor  signal  service  in  London.  He 
arrived  in  the  Province  in  May,  1717,  and  was  received 
with  much  pomp  and  ceremony.  It  being  harvest  time,  out 
of  kind  consideration  for  the  interests  of  the  country  mem- 
bers, he  delayed  calling  the  Assembly  until  it  was  over,  the 
19th  of  August.  In  his  inaugural  address  he  assigned  this 
as  the  reason  of  the  delay.  The  Assembly  in  their  reply  ac- 
knowledged this  courtesy,  but  took  immediate  occasion  to 
ask  a  further  favor  in  these  words :  "  As  the  Governor  was 
pleased  to  defer  calling  us,  for  the  sake  of  harvest,  so  we 
crave  leave  to  observe  to  him,  that  seed-time  being  just  at 
hand,  it  will  be  a  great  inconveniency  to  many  of  the  mem- 
bers to  stay  long  at  this  season."  The  disposition  manifested 
in  this,  his  first  official  act,  was  characteristic  of  his  entire 
administration,  and  was  in  striking  contrast  with  that  of 
several  of  his  predecessors.  Evans  and  Gookin  had  made 
themselves  especially  odious  to  the  people  by  their  intermi- 
nable quarrels,  and  the  office  of  Governor  had  come  to  be 
regarded  as  necessarily  in  antagonism  to  their  interests. 
Keith,  by  his  affable  deportment  and  thoughtful  deference  to 
their  wishes,  and  by  espousing  the  cause  of  the  people  on 
several  occasions  in  opposition  to  that  of  the  Proprietor,  com- 
pletely disarmed  them  of  hostility  to  the  office,  and  made 
them  his  earnest  advocates.  For  his  good  will  he  was  re- 
warded with  ample  salaries,  for  want  of  which  his  predeces- 
sors had  often  languished. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HANNAH    PENN,  EXECUTRIX  FOR  PROPRIETORS,  1718-27. 

SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH,  Deputy  Governor,  July,  1718,  to 
July,  1726.— On  the  30th  of  July,  1718,  William  Penn 
died,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  Six  years  before  he  had 
been  prostrated  by  disease  and  never  after  recovered  his 
physical  vitality,  though  his  mind  was  for  the  most  part 
active.  By  his  will,  which  he  executed  in  1712,  he  gave  to 
his  son  William,  the  only  surviving  son  by  his  first  marriage, 
all  his  estates  in  England,  amounting  to  twelve  hundred 
pounds  annually.  To  his  wife  Hannah,  whom  he  made  his 
sole  executrix,  for  the  equal  benefit  of  herself  and  her  five 
children,  all  his  personal  estate  in  Pennsylvania  and  else- 
where was  devised,  after  paying  all  debts,  and  apportioning 
ten  thousand  acres  of  land  in  the  Province  to  each  of  the 
three  children  of  his  son  William,  and  to  his  daughter  Letitia 
by  the  first  marriage. 

Upon  the  death  of  Penn,  Keith  was  in  doubt  about  his 
right  to  longer  execute  the  duties  of  his  office.  He  accord- 
ingly laid  the  matter  before  his  Council  and  the  Assembly,  by 
both  of  which  it  was  determined,  that  the  Act  of  June  llth, 
1711,  for  the  further  securing  the  administration  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, provided  that  the  incumbent  should  hold  his  office 
until  his  successor  was  appointed.  William  Penn,  Jr.,  re- 
newed the  commission  of  Keith,  and  gave  him  a  letter  of  in- 
structions, as  from  the  actual  proprietor ;  but  believing  that 
by  the  terms  of  the  will,  the  son  William  was  not  heir  to  the 
Province,  Keith  referred  the  subject  to  the  Lords  of  Trade 
and  Plantations,  and  the  then  Lord-Regent,  by  whom  his 
continuance  in  oflice  was  confirmed.  This  action  of  Keith 

126 


SIR   WILLIAM  KEITH.  127 

gave  offence  to  the  Perm  family,  they  believing  that  the  pro- 
prietary rights  were  fully  inherited.  Soon  afterwards  the 
son  "William  issued  a  commission  to  Logan  as  Secretary  of  the 
Province. 

Doubts  existing  as  to  the  force  of  the  Proprietor's  devise, 
a  suit  in  chancery  was  instituted  to  determine  it,  which  re- 
mained for  several  years  undecided.  In  March,  1720,  Wil- 
liam Penn,  Jr.,  died,  and  before  a  decision  of  the  case  was 
had,  his  son  Springett  died  also.  In  the  meantime,  Hannah 
Penn,  the  sole  executrix,  assumed  the  management  of  colonial 
affairs,  executing  this  difficult  task  with  rare  tact  and  business 
capacity.  "  She  became,"  says  Watson,  "  in  effect  our  gov- 
ernor, ruling  us  by  her  deputies,  or  lieutenant  governors, 
during  all  the  term  of  her  children's  minority."  The  case 
was  finally  decided  in  1727,  to  the  effect  that  upon  the  death 
of  William  Penn,  Jr.,  and  his  son  Springett,  the  proprie- 
tary rights  devolved  upon  John,  Thomas,  and  Richard  Penn, 
the  surviving  sons  of  William  Penn,  Sen.,  by  the  second  mar- 
riage, Dennis  the  fourth  son  having  in  the  meantime  died; 
and  that  the  Proprietor's  agreement  to  sell  the  Province  to 
the  Crown  for  twelve  thousand  pounds,  made  in  1712,  and  on 
which  one  thousand  pounds  had  been  paid  at  the  confirma- 
tion of  the  sale,  was  void. 

Though  general  prosperity  prevailed  in  the  Province,  and 
abundant  crops  rewarded  the  hand  of  the  diligent,  there 
was  little  money  in  circulation,  so  that  citizens  found  it 
almost  impossible  to  pay  for  their  lands,  or  even  the  taxes 
thereon,  the  prices  of  produce,  on  account  of  its  great  abun- 
dance, being  next  to  nothing.  To  remedy  this  evil,  inspec- 
tors of  flour,  fish,  and  other  products  were  appointed,  who, 
by  the  careful  and  discriminating  discharge  of  their  duties, 
caused  the  Pennsylvania  brands  of  these  articles  to  become 
well  established  and  popular,  and  to  command  the  first  prices 
and  ready  sale  in  the  West  Indies,  whither  most  of  the  sur- 
plus produce  was  exported.  An  emission  of  paper  money, 
hedged  about  with  suitable  securities  and  safeguards,  was  pro- 
vided for,  which  served  to  stimulate  industry  and  greatly  in- 


1 28  PR OPRIETAR Y  GO VERNMENT. 

crease  the  general  prosperity.  Through  the  insinuating  and 
skilful  management  of  the  Governor,  the  Assembly  was  in- 
duced to  pass  two  Acts  against  which  it  had  previously  mani- 
fested the  most  unyielding  hostility :  one  to  provide  for  the 
establishment  of  a  court  of  equity,  with  himself  as  Chancel- 
lor, and  another  for  the  formation  of  militia  organizations. 

During  the  early  part  of  Keith's  administration,  a  difficulty 
had  arisen  between  the  Indians  upon  the  Susquehanna,  and 
upon  the  Shenandoah,  respecting  the  limits  of  their  hunting- 
grounds.  Hostilities  between  them  seemed  imminent.  To 
settle  these  difficulties  amicably  was  earnestly  sought  by  the 
Governor.  He  accordingly  visited  the  Governor  of  Virginia, 
and  interested  him  in  restraining  the  Indians  living  south  of 
the  Potomac  from  crossing  to  the  north  of  that  stream  in 
pursuit  of  their  game.  He  then  invited  the  chiefs  of  the 
Five  Nations  to  meet  him  in  conference  at  Conestoga,  a  place 
about  seventy  miles  west  of  Philadelphia,  whither  he  went 
on  the  6th  of  July,  1721,  attended  by  a  numerous  cavalcade. 
Representatives  of  the  Five  Nations,  with  their  chief  men, 
were  present.  With  many  tokens  of  solemnity  and  sincere 
friendship,  certified  by  the  laying  down  of  belts  of  wampum 
and  bundles  of  skins  and  furs,  the  native  orator  excused  the 
irregularities  of  their  young  men,  which  he  attributed  to  the 
use  of  strong  spirits,  that  takes  away  their  sense  of  memory, 
of  which  they  knew  nothing  before  the  arrival  of  the  white 
man  among  them,  and  he  concludes  by  saying,  "  That  a  chain 
may  contract  rust  with  lying,  and  become  weaker ;  wherefore, 
he  desires  it  may  now  be  so  well  cleaned,  as  to  remain  brighter 
and  stronger  than  ever  it  was  before.  [Presents  another 
parcel  of  skins.]  That,  as  in  the  firmament  all  clouds  and 
darkness  are  removed  from  the  place  of  the  sun,  so  they  de- 
sire that  all  misunderstandings  may  be  fully  done  away." 
The  Governor  made  answer  to  these  short  but  graceful  sen- 
tences, abounding  in  the  native  eloquence  with  which  the 
speeches  of  these  men  of  the  forest  were  ever  characterized, 
by  a  long  and  elaborate  address,  in  which  he  answered  the 
chief  points  made  by  the  Indian ;  but  so  completely  loaded 


SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH.  129 

down  were  his  sentences  with  verbiage,  that  it  is  doubtful  if 
the  native  counsellors  understood  or  remembered  much  that 
he  said.  At  the  close  he  presented  them  with  a  coronation 
medal  of  the  king  in  gold,  and  two  days  after  a  quantity  of 
gay  coats,  powder,  lead,  biscuit,  pipes  and  tobacco,  which 
were  doubtless  better  comprehended  and  appreciated  than  his 
speech,  and  the  conference  broke  up  with  every  evidence  of 
satisfaction  and  pacific  intention.  The  Governor,  upon  his 
return,  was  met  at  the  passage  of  the  Schuylkill  by  the  city 
fathers,  and  over  two  hundred  of  the  principal  citizens,  who 
conducted  him  through  the  streets  after  the  manner  of  a  hero 

o 

returning  from  conquest. 

Not  long  after  this,  an  Indian  was  killed  near  Conestoga 
in  a  drunken  quarrel  with  two  brothers  named  Cartlidge. 
The  murder  was  aggravated  by  acts  of  cruelty.  Keith  took 
prompt  measures  for  the  apprehension  of  the  murderers,  sent 
messengers  to  the  chiefs  of  the  Five  Nations  to  assure  them 
of  his  disapproval  of  the  wicked  deed,  and  finally  himself 
made  a  journey  to  Albany,  accompanied  by  Hill,  Norris,  and 
Hamilton  of  his  Council,  whither  he  had  been  invited  by  the 
Indians  for  a  conference  of  the  Governors  of  all  the  Colonies, 
when,  after  considering  the  subject  of  the  murder,  the  grand 
sachem  made  this  noble  and  magnanimous  answer :  "  The 
great  king  of  the  Five  Nations  is  sorry  for  the  death  of  the 
Indian  that  was  killed,  for  he  was  of  his  own  flesh  and  blood; 
he  believes  the  Governor  is  also  sorry ;  but  now  that  it  is 
done  there  is  no  help  for  it,  and  he  desires  that  Cartlidge 
[the  murderer]  may  not  be  put  to  death,  nor  that  he  should 
be  spared  for  a  time  and  afterwards  executed;  one  life  is 
enough  to  be  lost;  there  should  not  two  die.  The  king's 
heart  is  good  to  the  Governor  and  all  the  English." 

In  all  his  official  acts,  Keith  stood  on  the  side  of  the  people 
as  represented  by  the  Assembly,  in  opposition  to  the  Council 
and  the  Secretary,  who  were  considered  as  representing  the 
Proprietor.  It  had  long  been  the  custom  for  the  Governor 
to  discuss  bills  which  had  been  passed  by  the  Assembly,  sec- 
tion by  section,  and  approve  or  reject  them  by  the  major 


1 30  PR OPEIETAR Y  GO VERNMENT. 

voice.  By  the  terms  of  the  charter,  Keith  discovered  that 
the  Council  had  really  only  an  advisory  power,  and  as  they 
had  often  delayed  and  defeated  bills  of  importance  by  their 
opposition,  he  determined  to  act  independently  of  them. 
This  was  strenuously  resisted  by  the  Council,  and  by  Logan 
the  Secretary,  and  was  the  beginning  of  a  bitter  controversy. 
Finally,  in  1722,  the  Governor  having  discovered  that  Logan, 
as  he  alleges,  had  entered  upon  the  minutes  of  the  Council  a 
statement  which  had  not  been  formally  approved,  removed 
him  from  office,- and  appointed  another  in  his  place;  where- 
upon Logan  repaired  to  London,  and  laid  his  grievances  be- 
fore Hannah  Penn,  now  the  acting  Proprietor.  Logan  had 
long  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Proprietor,  and  that 
confidence  could  not  now  be  shaken  by  the  trivial  represen- 
tations of  the  Governor.  She  immediately  wrote  to  Keith, 
sharply  reproving  him  for  displacing  the  Secretary  without 
consulting  her,  or  even  his  Council,  which  was  enjoined  in 
the  charter,  and  directing  him  to  reinstate  Logan  in  his  old 
position.  This  Keith  refused  to  do,  justifying  his  conduct, 
and  claiming  for  himself  absolute  power  in  disposing  of  this 
matter.  This  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  Proprietor  cost 
him  his  place,  he  being  superseded  in  July,  1726. 

Keith  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  most  successful  of 
the  Proprietary  Governors,  and  though  charged  with  craft 
and  subserviency  to  gain  his  ends,  and  command  popular 
favor,  which  were  doubtless  founded  in  truth,  yet  it  appears 
that  he  used  the  power  and  influence  which  he  thus  acquired 
for  the  public  good,  and  that  the  growth  and  prosperity  of 
the  Colony  during  his  administration  were  unsurpassed  nor 
even  equalled  by  any  other  American  Colony.  Though  not 
a  Quaker,  he  secured  to  that  sect  privileges  which  had  pre- 
viously been  sought  in  vain,  they  being  allowed  to  wear  their 
hats  in  court,  and  to  give  testimony  under  affirmation  instead 
of  oath.  So  far  had  he  won  the  popular  favor,  that  he  was 
immediately  elected  to  the  Assembly,  after  surrendering  the 
gubernatorial  power,  and  took  his  seat  in  that  body ;  but  in 
his  wish  to  be  elected  speaker  he  was  foiled,  the  methods  he 


SIR  WILLIAM  KEITH.  131 

adopted  to  secure  this  result  serving  to  alienate  even  hia 
friends.  Watson,  in  his  reference  to  this  event,  says  :  "  After- 
wards, when  he  [David  Lloyd]  exerted  himself  to  thwart  the 
ambitious  designs  of  Sir  William  Keith,  whom  he  wished  to 
supplant  as  a  dangerous  political  rival,  he  readily  succeeded. 
In  this,  such  was  his  management  and  success,  that,  although 
Sir  William  aimed  for  the  Speaker's  chair,  and  had  his  sup- 
port out-doors  in  a  cavalcade  of  eighty  mounted  horsemen, 
and  the  resounding  of  many  guns  fired,  David  Lloyd  got 
every  vote  in  the  Assembly  but  three."  For  a  year  or  two 
after  the  close  of  his  administration  he  manifested  a  most  un- 
justifiable and  malicious  spirit,  creating  dissensions  in  the 
administration  of  his  successor.  But  his  power  and  influence 
rapidly  waned.  In  1738  he  published  a  history  of  the  Colony 
of  Virginia,  with  the  intention  of  writing  the  histories  of  all 
the  other  Colonies ;  but  doubtless  abandoned  it  for  want  of 
sufficient  encouragement.  He  died  in  London  in  1749,  in 
poverty.  "  It  maybe  very  little  known,"  says  Watson, "  that 
he,  who  moved  with  so  much  excitement  and  cabal  as  our 
Governor  in  1726,  should  at  last  fall  into  such  neglect,  as  to 
leave  his  widow  among  us  unnoticed  and  almost  forgotten ! 
She  lived  and  died  in  a  small  wooden  house  in  Third  Street, 
between  High  and  Mulberry.  There,  much  pinched  for  sub- 
sistence, she  eked  out  her  existence  with  an  old  female,  de- 
clining all  intercourse  with  society  or  with  her  neighbors. 
The  house  itself  was  burnt  in  1786." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

JOHN,    RICHARD,    AND   THOMAS   PENN,   PROPRIETORS,    1727-46. 

"PATRICK  GORDON",  Deputy  Governor,  July,  1726,  to  Aw- 
J-  gust,  1736.  —  Patrick  Gordon,  who  had  served  in  the 
regular  army,  and  who  was  recommended  by  Springett  Penn 
for  royal  confirmation,  was  appointed  to  succeed  Keith.  He 
arrived  in  the  Province  with  his  family  in  the  summer  of 
1726,  and  met  the  Assembly  in  August.  In  his  first  address, 
he  alluded  to  the  fact  of  his  having  been  a  soldier,  that  he 
consequently  knew  nothing  of  the  crooked  ways  of  professed 
politicians,  and  must  rely  upon  a  blunt,  straightforward 
course  in  his  communications  with  them  and  in  his  adminis- 
tration of  the  government.  He  did  not  dissemble  in  making 
this  declaration,  for  his  public  career  seems  to  have  been 
characterized  by  frankness  and  integrity. 

During  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  his  government,  his 
predecessor  in  office  succeeded  in  fomenting  difficulties  in 
the  Assembly,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  in  the  Prov- 
ince ;  but  his  utterances  were  so  extravagant,  and  his  plans 
for  personal  aggrandizement  were  so  injudicious,  that  his  in- 
fluence over  the  party  which  he  had  at  first  led  was  soon 
lost,  and  the  discreet  and  wise  policy  of  Governor  Gordon 
bore  down  all  opposition.  George  I.  died  in  June,  1727, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  George  H.  At  the  meeting  of 
the  Assembly  in  October  following,  a  congratulatory  address 
was  framed  and  presented  to  the  new  king  upon  his  peaceful 
and  happy  accession  to  the  throne. 

In  1728,  several  disturbances  occurred  among  the  Indians, 
chiefly  incited  by  strong  drink,  which  were  participated  in  by 
worthless  bauds  who  had  strayed  away  from  the  tribes  to 

132 


PATRICK  GORDON.  133 

which  they  belonged.  In  these  affrays  several  were  killed 
and  wounded.  The  Governor  took  prompt  measures  to  ap- 
prehend and  punish  the  offenders,  and  succeeded  in  averting 
hostilities.  A  treaty  was.  concluded  with  the  Five  Nations 
which  was  ratified  with  presents  in  the  usual  formal  manner. 
At  a  council  held  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  26th  of  May,  for 
the  purpose  of  renewing  treaties  with  the  several  Indian 
tribes  there  represented,  Captain  Civility  spoke  in  behalf  of 
the  chieftains,  and  in  referring  to  the  Governor's  address,  pre- 
viously delivered  to  them  at  Conestoga,  said  that  "  the  Gov- 
ernor's words  were  all  right  and  good ;  that  they  never  had 
any  such  speech  made  to  them  since  William  Penn  was  here." 

These  conferences  with  the  Indians  were  frequent,  and 
were  attended  with  much  expense,  being  generally  coupled 
with  treaties  for  the  transfer  of  land.  The  Assembly,  at  its 
meeting  in  1729,  drew  a  distinction  between  the  expense  of 
treaties  for  the  preservation  of  peace  in  the  Colony,  and  those 
for  the  acquisition  of  territory,  claiming  that  the  latter  should 
De  borne  by  the  Proprietors,  thus  dividing  the  burden  of  the 
•'  frequent  visits  of  the  chiefs  and  their  followers,  to  polish 
the  chain  of  friendship  with  English  blankets,  broadcloths, 
and  metals." 

The  prosperity  of  the  Colony  at  this  period  was  remarkable. 
Though  not  planted  till  1680,  more  than  half  a  century  after 
the  settlements  of  the  other  Colonies  on  the  coast,  it  had  the 
finest  capital  city  in  all  British  America,  and  the  second  in 
size,  and  a  greater  white  population  than  Virginia,  Maryland, 
and  both  the  Carolinas.  The  causes  of  this  prosperity  were 
the  peaceful  policy  adopted  towards  the  savages,  the  security 
of  life  and  property  guaranteed  by  its  beneficent  code  of  laws, 
free  toleration  of  religious  sentiment,  and  the  equality  of  all 
men  before  the  law,  making  them  eligible  to -office,  and  com- 
petent to  give  testimony  in  court,  not  excluding  even  the  In- 
dian or  the  negro. 

The  entire  amount  of  paper  money  which  had  been  issued 
to  the  beginning  of  1730,  was  seventy-five  thousand  pounds, 
li amors  being  curre  t  of  mismanagement  in  the  loan  office, 


134  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Governor  Gordon  instituted  an  inquiry  into  the  affairs  of  the 
treasurer,  William  Fishbourne,  when  it  was  discovered  that 
he  was  a  defaulter  to  the  amount  of  eighteen  hundred  pounds. 
This  was  secured  by  the  estate  of  the  treasurer ;  but  he  was 
punished  by  being  removed,  and  forever  disqualified  from 
holding  office. 

In  1732,  it  was  discovered  that  the  French  from  Canada 
were  building  and  establishing  trading-posts  within  the  terri- 
tory of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  Allegheny  and  Ohio  rivers,  and 
that  representatives  of  the  Indians  dwelling  upon  these  rivers 
had  been  invited  to  a  conference  with  the  French  at  Mon- 
treal. To  counteract  this  influence,  the  Shawanese  upon  the 
Allegheny  were  summoned  to  Philadelphia,  and  at  a  council 
there  held,  they  were  urged  to  remove  farther  east.  This  they 
declined  to  do,  but  asserted  that  the  French  had  not  mani- 
fested an  unfriendly  spirit  towards  the  English.  A  treaty 
was  soon  afterwards  made  with  the  Six  Nations,  in  which  the 
Indians  promised  continued  friendship  for  the  English,  and 
resistance  to  the  encroachments  of  the  French. 

By  the  death  of  Hannah  Penn,  in  1733,  and  the  pre- 
vious decease  of  Springett  Penn,  the  Assembly  decided  that 
the  power  of  Governor  Gordon  was  at  an  end,  and  refused 
to  act  upon  a  message  which  he  had  communicated.  But 
shortly  afterward,  the  Governor  received  a  new  commission, 
executed  by  John,  Thomas,  and  Richard  Penn,  to  whom 
William  Penn's  estate  and  proprietary  rights  had  descended. 
In  the  approval  of  this  commission,  the  King  expressly  re- 
served the  right  to  govern  the  Lower  Counties  on  the  Dela- 
ware, commonly  known  as  the  Territories. 

This  reservation  was  but  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  en- 
croachments by  the  home  government,  not  only  upon  the 
rights  of  this,  but  upon  those  of  all  the  American  Colonies. 
The  judiciary  act  of  1727  was  soon  after  annulled,  which 
threatened  great  inconvenience,  but  was  fortunately  averted 
by  reviving  the  act  of  1722.  This  was  followed  by  an  at- 
tempt to  pass  a  resolution,  recommended  by  the  royal  board 
of  trade,  requiring  that  all  laws  not  only  of  Pennsylvania, 


PATRICK  GORDON.  135 

but  of  all  the  Colonies,  should  be  transmitted  t>  the  King, 
whose  assent  was  necessary  to  their  validity,  and  that  a  copy 
of  all  laws  previously  passed  should  be  submitted  to  him, 
who  might  annul  any  or  all  of  them  at  his  pleasure.  Through 
the  influence  of  the  agent  of  the  Assembly,  Mr.  Ferdinando 
John  Paris,  who  was  kept  at  Court  as  the  representative  of 
the  Province,  joined  with  the  agents  and  friends  of  the  other 
Colonies,  action  upon  this  resolution  was  stayed.  But  the 
disposition  manifested  in  this  proposition,  so  hurtful  in -its 
tendency  to  the  dearest  and  most  cherished  rights  of  the 
Colony,  was  in  character  with  those  infringements  of  the 
Crown,  which  finally  resulted  in  armed  resistance,  and  their 
complete  separation  and  independence. 

In  August  of  1732,  Thomas  Penn,  and  two  years  later,  John 
Penn,  the  Pennsylvania  born,  and  the  eldest  of  the  surviving 
sons  of  William  Penn,  arrived  in  the  Province.  Their  advent 
was  hailed  with  demonstrations  of  joy  and  satisfaction  on  the 
part  of  the  people,  and  furnished  occasions  of  congratulatory 
addresses  from  the  Assembly,  framed  in  a  spirit  of  unfeigned 
respect  and  gratification,  by  whom  answers  were  returned 
pledging  constant  3evotion  to  the  interests  of  the  Colony. 
To  John  Penn,  the  Assembly  said :  "  Excited  by  affection 
and  gratitude,  we  cheerfully  embrace  this  opportunity  of  con- 
gratulating thee  on  thy  safe  arrival  to  the  place  of  thy  na- 
tivity. When  we  commemorate  the  many  benefits  bestowed 
on  the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony,  the  religious  and  civil  liber- 
ties we  possess,  and  to  whom  these  valuable  privileges,  under 
God  and  the  King,  are  owing,  we  should  be  wanting  to  our- 
selves, and  them  that  we  represent,  did  we  not  do  justice  to 
the  memory  of  thy  worthy  ancestor,  a  man  of  principles  truly 
humane,  an  advocate  of  religion  and  liberty.  What  may 
we  not  hope  for  from  the  son  of  so  great  a  man,  educated 
under  his  care,  and  influenced  by  his  example !  May  his  de- 
scendants inherit  his  virtues  as  well  as  his  estate,  and  long 
continue  a  blessing  to  Pennsylvania."  To  which  he  returned 
this  answer:  "  I  return  you  my  hearty  thanks  for  this  affec- 
tionate address.  The  kind  regard  you  express  for  the  memory 


136  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

of  my  father  is  most  agreeable  to  me ;  and,  as  it  was  always 
his  desire,  so  it  is  strongly  my  inclination,  to  do  everything 
in  my  power  to  promote  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  this 
Province." 

Not  long  after  the  arrival  of  the  latter,  Governor  Gordon 
was  advised  from  London,  that  Lord  Baltimore  had  made 
application  to  the  king  to  have  the  three  Lower  Counties  trans- 
ferred from  the  dominion  of  Pennsylvania  to  that  of  Mary 
land.  Richard  Penn,  the  only  one  of  the  Proprietors  re- 
maining in  England,  and  a  deputation  of  Quakers,  protested 
against  this ;  but  lest  this  opposition  should  fail,  John  Penn 
determined  to  return  to  -England,  to  defend  the  Proprietary 
interests  at  Court,  and  soon  after  took  his  departure  from  the 
Colony,  to  which  he  never  again  returned,  having  died,  un- 
married, in  Oct<  ber,  1746,  leaving  his  share  of  the  Colony  to 
his  brother  Thomas. 

In  August,  1736,  Governor  Gordon  died,  equally  lamented 
by  the  Proprietaries  and  the  people,  he  having  so  judiciously 
administered  the  government,  as  not  to  set  the  interests  of 
the  one  in  antagonism  to  the  other.  During  his  term  of 
office,  general  prosperity  had  prevailed,  and  the  Colony  had 
greatly  increased  in  wealth  and  numbers.  Its  commerce  like- 
wise had  grown  to  commanding  proportions,  and  the  number 
and  tonnage  of  the  colonial-built  ships  had  been  rapidly 
multiplied. 

JAMES  LOGAN,  President  of  the  Council,  August,  1736,  to 
August,  1738.  —  Upon  the  death  of  Governor  Gordon,  the  ex- 
ecutive authority  devolved  upon  the  Council,  of  which  James 
Logan  was  President.  During  the  two  years  which  elapsed 
between  the  death  of  the  late  Governor  and  the  arrival 
of  his  successor,  the  Assembly  met  regularly  and  advised 
with  the  Council,  but  no  laws  were  passed  and  no  legisla- 
tive business  was  transacted,  as  the  Council  was  forbidden 
by  charter  from  exercising  executive  power  in  legislation. 
During  this  period,  serious  troubles  arose  from  the  contested 
jurisdiction  of  Pem  sylvania  an1  Maryland  over  portions  of 


JAMES  LOGAN.  137 

territory  west  of  the  Susquehanna,  then  a  part  of  Lancaster 
Count}',  now  of  York.  To  escape  the  payment  of  taxes  in 
Pennsylvania,  the  settlers  had  accepted  titles  to  their  lands 
from  Maryland,  but  subsequently  had  renounced  their  alle- 
giance to  the  latter,  and  sought  protection  from  the  former. 
This  action  the  Maryland  authorities  resisted,  and  the  sheriff 
of  the  adjoining  Maryland  county,  with  three  hundred  rnen, 
advanced  to  drive  out  the  settlers.  The  sheriff  of  Lancaster 
County,  Samuel  Smith,  with  a  quickly  summoned  posse, 
went  out  to  meet  the  Marylanders,  and  protect  the  citizens 
of  his  county.  An  amicable  agreement  was  effected  with- 
out coming  to  violence,  and  the  two  parties  withdrew.  But 
soon  afterwards  a  gang  of  fifty  armed  Marylanders,  under 
the  leadership  of  one  Cressap,  again  invaded  the  terri- 
tory, with  the  design  of  taking  forcible  possession  of  the 
farms  of  the  settlers,  each  of  the  band  to  have  at  least  two 
hundred  acres.  In  an  encounter  with  the  settlers,  one  of 
them,  Knowles,  who  offered  resistance  to  their  demands,  was 
killed.  The  sheriff  of  Lancaster  came  to  the  rescue,  and  a 
sharp  skirmish  occurred,  in  which  one  of  the  invaders  was 
killed,  and  Cressap  himself  was  wounded  and  made  prisoner. 
Governor  Ogle,  of  Maryland,  sent  a  commission  to  Philadel- 
phia to  demand  his  release;  but  failing  in  this,  he  seized 
four  of  the  settlers  and  incarcerated  them  in  the  jail  at  Balti- 
more. Not  satisfied  with  the  results  of  the  contest  thus  far, 
a  band  of  Marylanders,  led  by  one  Higginbotham,  invaded 
the  disputed  ground  and  began  driving  out  the  settlers,  when 
the  sheriff  of  Lancaster  again  appeared  and  dispersed  them. 
This  harassing  strife  was  kept  up  for  several  months,  pre- 
venting the  settlers  from  planting  or  improving  their  farms. 
In  the  meantime,  a  party  of  Marylanders,  to  the  number  of 
sixteen,  under  Richard  Lowden,  broke  into  the  jail  at  Lan- 
caster, and  released  the  prisoners  who  had  been  apprehended. 
In  the  midst  of  these  contentions,  an  order  of  the  king  in 
Council  was  issued,  which  had  the  effect  to  restrain  both  par- 
ties, and  subsequently  action  was  taken  which  provided  for 


138  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

the  settlement  of  the  question  of  boundary,  and,  consequently, 
of  jurisdiction. 

In  these  trying  difficulties  the  affairs  of  the  Colony  were 
managed  with  great  firmness  and  determination  by  Logan ; 
and  the  Indians,  who  were  again  aroused  to  open  hostilities 
by  unprincipled  traders,  who,  going  among  them  and  making 
them  drunken,  despoiled  them  of  their  skins  and  abused 
their  women,  were  persuaded  to  forbearance  and  forgiveness 
by  his  arguments  and  appeals,  and  his  kind  and  benignant 
bearing.  He  was  only  nominally  governor  during  these  two 
years,  but  really  the  ruling  power  behind  those  who  held  the 
gubernatorial  commission,  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  the 
Colony,  in  1699,  for  a  period  of  over  forty  years,  holding 
the  offices  of  chief  commissioner  of  property,  agent  for  the 
purchase  and  sale  of  lands,  receiver-general,  member  of  Coun- 
cil, President  of  Council,  and  chief-justice.  During  the  life 
of  William  Penn  he  had  the  exclusive  management  of  all 
his  private  affairs  in  the  Province,  and  after  his  death,  those 
of  his  children,  attending  to  the  sale  of  lands,  executing 
conveyances,  making  the  collections,  and  looking  to  all  the 
vast  details  of  the  Proprietary  interests.  In  the  course  of  his 
long  service  he  met  with  stern  opposition  and  often  bitter 
reproach;  but  he  bore  all  with  a  calm  yet  firm  resolution, — 
the  distinguishing  mark  of  a  great  spirit,  —  and  finally  tri- 
umphed over  all  his  adversaries. 

"  James  Logan,"  says  Proud,  "  was  descended  of  a  family 
originally  from  Scotland,  where,  in  the  troubles  of  that  coun- 
try, occasioned  by  the  affair  of  Earl  Gawrie,  in  the  reign  of 
James  VI. ,  his  grandfather,  Robert  Logan,  was  deprived  of, 
a  considerable  estate,  in  consequence  of  which  his  father, 
Patrick  Logan,  being  in  reduced  circumstances,  removed 
into  Ireland  and  fixed  his  residence  at  Lurgan,  the  place  of 
his  son  James'  birth.  Patrick  Logan  had  the  benefit  of  a 
good  education  in  the  university  of  Edinburgh,  where  he 
commenced  Master  of  Arts,  but  afterwards  joined  in  religious 
society  with  the  Quakers.  Thus  his  son,  James  Logan,  being 
endowed  with  good  genius  and  favored  with  suitable  educa- 


JAMES  LOGAN.  139 

tion,  made  considerable  proficiency  in  divers  oranches  of 
learning  and  science,  after  which  he  went  to  Englai  d,  from 
whence,  in  the  year  1699,  and  about  the  twenty-fifth  of  his 
age,  he  removed  to  Pennsylvania  in  company  with  William 
Penn,  in  his  latter  voyage  to  America,  and  in  1701  he  was, 
by  commission  from  the  Proprietary,  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  Province  and  clerk  of  the  Council  for  the  same.  His  life 
was  afterwards  much  employed  in  public  affairs.  .  .  .  Many 
years  before  his  death  he  retired  pretty  much  from  the  hurry 
and  iucumbrance  of  public  affairs,  and  spent  the  latter  part 
of  his  time  principally  at  Stenton,  his  country-seat,  near  Ger- 
mantown,  about  five  or  six  miles  from  Philadelphia,  where 
he  enjoyed  among  his  books  that  leisure  in  which  men  of 
letters  take  delight,  and  corresponded  with  the  literati  in 
different  parts  of  Europe.  He  was  well  versed  in  both  an- 
cient and  modern  learning,  acquainted  with  the  Oriental 
tongues,  a  master  of  the  Latin,  Greek,  French,  and  Italian 
languages,  deeply  skilled  in  the  mathematics  and  in  natural 
and  moral  philosophy,  as  several  pieces  of  his  own  writing 
in  Latin,  &c.,  demonstrate,  some  of  which  have  gone  through 
divers  impressions  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  and  are 
highly  esteemed.  Among  his  productions  of  this  nature,  his 
JExperimenta  Meletemata  de  plantarum  generatione,  or  his  Experi- 
ments on  the  Indian  Corn  or  Maize  of  America,  with  his 
observations  arising  therefrom  on  the  generation  of  plants, 
published  in  Latin,  at  Leyden,  in  1739,  and  afterwards,  in 
1747,  republished  in  London,  with  an  English  version  on  the 
opposite  page  by  Dr.  J.  Fothergill,  are  both  curious  and  in- 
genious. Along  with  this  piece  was  likewise  printed,  in 
Latin,  at  Leyden,.  another  treatise  by  the  same  author,  enti- 
tled, Canonum  pro  inveniendis  rcfractionum,  turn  simplicium,  turn 
m  Lentibus  duplicum  focis,  demonstrationis  geometricae.  And  in 
his  old  age,  he  translated  Cicero's  excellent  treatise  De  Se- 
nectute,  which,  with  his  explanatory  notes,  was  printed  in 
Philadelphia,  with  a  preface  or  encomium  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  afterwards  Dr.  Franklin,  of  that  cit}7,  in  1744. 
He  was  one  of  the  people  called  Quakers,  and  died  on  the 


140  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

31st  of  October,  1751,  aged  about  seventy-seven  years,  leav- 
ing as  a  monument  of  his  public  spirit  and  benevolence  to 
the  people  of  Pennsylvania  a  library  which  he  had  been  fifty 
years  in  collecting,  since  called  the  Loganian  Library,  intend- 
ing it  for  the  common  use  and  benefit  of  all  lovers  of  learning. 
It  was  said  to  contain  the  best  editions  of  the  best  books  in 
various  languages,  arts,  and  sciences,  and  to  be  the  largest, 
and  by  far  the  most  valuable,  collection  of  the  kind,  at  that 
time,  in  this  part  of  the  world.  He  had  several  children 
who  survived  him,  of  whom  his  eldest  son,  "William,  lately 
deceased,  was  many  years  a  member  of  the  Governor's 
council." 

In  1742  a  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  Six  Nations  at 
Philadelphia,  at  which  one  of  the  native  orators  thus  spoke 
of  him,  witnessing  to  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by 
the  men  of  the  forest :  "  We  called  at  our  old  friend's,  James 
Logan,  in  our  way  to  this  city,  and  to  our  grief  we  found 
him  hid  in  the  bushes,  and  retired,  through  infirmities,  from 
public  business.  We  pressed  him  to  leave  his  retirement, 
and  prevailed  with  him  to  assist  once  more,  on  our  account,  at 
your  councils.  We  hope,  notwithstanding  his  age  and  the 
effects  of  a  fit  of  sickness,  which,  we  understand,  has  hurt 
his  constitution,  that  he  may  yet  continue  a  long  time  to  as- 
sist this  Province  with  his  counsels.  He  is  a  wise  man  and 
a  fast  friend  of  the  Indians,  and  we  desire,  when  his  soul 
goes  to  God,  you  may  choose  in  his  room  just  such  another 
person  of  the  same  prudence  and  ability  in  counselling,  and 
of  the  same  tender  disposition  and  affection  for  the  Indians. 
In  testimony  of  our  gratitude  for  all  his  services,  and  because 
he  was  so  good  as  to  leave  his  country  house  and  follow  us 
to  town,  and  be  at  the  trouble,  in  this,  his  advanced  age,  to 
attend  the  council,  we  present  him  with  this  bundle  of  skins." 

"  In  personal  appearance  James  Logan  was  tall  and  well- 
proportioned,  with  a  graceful  yet  grave  demeanor.  He  had 
a  good  complexion,  and  was  quite  florid  even  in  old  age;  nor 
did  his  hair,  which  was  brown,  turn  gray  in  the  decline  of 
life,  B  or  his  eyes  require  spectacles.  According  to  the  fash- 


GEORGE  THOMAS.  141 

ion  of  the  times,  lie  wore  a  powdered  wig.  His  whole  man- 
ner was  dignified,  so  as  to  abash  impertinence ;  yet  he  was 
kind  and  strictly  just  in  all  the  minor  duties  of  acquaintance 
and  society."  * 

Logan's  whole  life  in  America  was  a  laborious  one,  his 
cares  being  such  that  few  would  have  borne  up  under  them. 
In  one  of  his  letters  he  says :  "  These  duties  make  my  life  so 
uncomfortable  that  it  is  not  worth  the  living."  And  again  : 
"  I  know  not  what  any  of  the  comforts  of  life  are."  But  he 
faithfully  executed  his  great  trust  to  the  last,  which  proved  a 
rich  blessing  to  the  Province;  and  it  will  redound  to  the 
glory  and  honor  of  the  State  in  all  times  to  come,  that  a  man 
of  so  much  learning,  talent,  and  fidelity  was  found  to  execute 
the  duties  which  the  government  imposed,  and  give  whole- 
some bias  to  its  rule. 

GEORGE  THOMAS,  Deputy  Governor,  August,  1738,  to 
1747.  —  George  Thomas,  a  planter  of  Antigua,  one  of  the 
"West  India  Islands,  was  appointed  Governor  in  the  .summer 
of  1737;  but  owing  to  the  claim  of  Lord  Baltimore  to  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  Lower  Counties,  he  was  detained  in  London  in 
defending  the  Proprietary  rights,  and  did  not  assume  the 
duties  of  his  office  until  the  following  year.  He  first  met  the 
Assembly  in  August,  1738.  The  first  serious  business  which 
claimed  his  attention  was  the  question  of  jurisdiction  over  the 
disputed  territory  between  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  It 
was  mutually  agreed  that  each  Governor  should  claim  alle- 
giance from  its  own  subjects,  wherever  settled,  until  the 
boundary  line  was  run.  This  agreement  was  approved  by 
the  King,  and  made  an  order  in  Council. 

Andrew  Hamilton,  the  venerable  speaker  of  the  Assembly, 
who  for  several  years  had  served  the  Province  with  great 
ability  and  acceptance,  towards  ,the  close  of  August  took  his 
final  leave  of  that  body,  delivering  a  valedictory  address  con- 
ceived in  a  vein  of  eminently  just  reflection  and  sage  advice. 
"  It  is  not,"  he  says,  "  to  the  fertility  of  our  soil,  and  the 

*  Hazard,  vol.  v.  321. 


1 42  PR OPRIETAR Y  GO  VERNMENT. 

commodiousness  of  our  rivers,  that  we  ought  chiefly  to  at- 
tribute the  great  progress  this  Province  has  made  within  so 
small  a  compass  of  years,  in  improvements,  wealth,  trade  and 
navigation;  and  the  extraordinary  increase  of  people  who 
have  been  drawn  here  from  almost  every  country  in  Europe, 
—  a  progress  which  more  ancient  settlements  on  the  main  of 
America  cannot,  at  the  present,  boast  of.  No.  It  is  princi- 
pally, and  almost  wholly,  owing  to  the  excellency  of  our 
constitution,  under  which  we  enjoy  a  greater  share  both  of 

civil  and  religious  liberty  than  any  of  our  neighbors 

We  have  no  officers  but  what  are  necessary ;  none  but  what 
earn  their  salaries;  and  those  generally  are  either  elected  by 
the  people,  or  appointed  by  their  representatives.  Other 
Provinces  swarm  with  unnecessary  officers,  nominated  by  the 
Governors,  who  often  make  it  a  main  part  of  their  care  to 
support  those  officers,  notwithstanding  their  oppressions,  at 
all  events.  I  hope  it  will  ever  be  the  wisdom  of  our  Assem- 
blies to  create  no  great  offices  or  officers,  nor  indeed  any  offi- 
cer at  all,  but  what  is  really  necessary  for  the  service  of  the 
country,  and  to  be  sure  to  let  the  people,  or  their  representa- 
tives, have  at  least  a  share  in  their  nomination  or  appoint- 
ment. This  will  always  be  a  good  security  against  the  mis- 
chievous influence  of  men  holding  places  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  Governor Nor  are  we  less  happy  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  perfect  freedom  as  to  religion.  By  many  years 
experience,  we  find  that  an  equality  among  religious  societies, 
without  distinguishing  any  one  sect  with  greater  privileges 
than  another,  is  the  most  effectual  method  to  discourage 
hypocrisy,  promote  the  practice  of  the  moral  virtues,  and 
prevent  the  plagues  and  mischiefs  that  always  attend  religious 
squabbling." 

On  the  23d  of  October,  1739,  war,  which  for  two  years  had 
been  impending,  was  formally  deelared  between  Spain  and 
Great  Britain.  Governor  Thomas  had  previously  made  some 
efforts  to  organize  the  militia;  but  without  much  success. 
He  now  endeavored  to  use  his  official  authority  in  effecting 
his  purpose.  The  Assembly  had  always  been  averse  to  voting 


GEORGE  THOMAS.  143 

money  for  carrying  on  military  operations,  though  it  had  ap- 
propriated funds  for  the  use  of  the  Crown,  to  be  devoted  to 
the  civil  service.  Thomas  was  dissatisfied  with  this  course, 
and  endeavored  to  convince  the  Assembly  that  such  a  position 
was  absurd,  and  that  his  opinion  should  be  respected.  He 
seems  to  have  had  as  imperfect  a  judgment  of  the  Quaker 
faith  and  practice  as  had  Governor  Evans,  already  noticed, 
and  to  have  believed  that  these  men  could  be  driven  to  adopt 
his  views.  In  this  he  found  himself  deceived.  Fruitless  and 
vexatious  messages  passed  between  them.  Finally  a  commu- 
nication was  received  from  the  home  government,  directing 
the  Governor  to  call  for  volunteers.  Eight  companies  were 
rapidly  organized  and  sent  to  the  capes  of  Virginia.  It  was 
found  that  many  servants  had  been  enlisted.  Of  this  the 
Assembly  complained,  and  in  its  bill  making  appropriations 
for  the  use  of  the  King,  provided  for  the  payment  of  masters 
for  the  losses  thus  sustained.  The  Governor  objecting  to  this 
provision,  refused  to  sign  the  bill.  At  the  next  election  the 
conduct  of  the  Assembly  in  this  matter  was  approved,  and 
an  order  was  issued  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Loan  Office  for 
the  payment  of  the  masters. 

In  1740,  much  religious  excitement  prevailed  in  the  Colony 
produced  by  the  preaching  of  Whitefield.  Many  of  all  de- 
nominations followed  him,  the  feeling  amounting  to  almost 
a  frenzy.  By  his  exertions  a  large  brick  edifice  was  erected 
in  Fourth  Street,  Philadelphia,  to  be  open  to  any  preacher 
of  any  denomination  who  should  desire  to  address  the 
citizens.. 

In  August,  1741,  Thomas  Penn  departed  for  Europe.  The 
Assembly  presented  him  with  a  kind  and  affectionate  address 
on  the  occasion,  to  which  he  made  answer  expressing  his  sat- 
isfaction, and  commending  to  its  care  the  interests  of  the 
Province. 

The  contentions  between  the  Governor  and  the  Assembly 
increased  at  every  meeting,  until  the  style  of  communication 
between  them  became  in  a  marked  degree  disreputable.  The 
Governor  refused  to  sign  the  bills  of  the  Assembly,  and  the 


144  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Assembly,  in  turn,  refused  to  vote  him  his  salary.  To  the 
Governor's  complaint  that  his  salary  was  unpaid,  answer  was 
made  by  the  Assembly  that  they  were  accustomed  to  have 
all  their  business  progress  in  due  order,  and  that  public  acts 
took  precedence  of  appropriations  for  their  own  pay. 

Headstrong  by  nature,  and  determined  to  triumph  over 
the  Assembly,  he  decided  to  appeal  to  the  people.  The 
Quaker  element  in  the  Assembly  was  strong.  This'  he 
hoped,  by  the  aid  of  the  city  and  the  German  population,  to 
break  down.  The  elections  were  held;  but  the  Quakers 
were  everywhere  triumphant.  In  the  city  riots  were  incited, 
a  band  of  marines,  in  the  interest  of  the  Governor's  party, 
taking  possession  of  the  polls ;  but  they  were  finally  driven 
away. 

Satisfied  that  he  could  not  subdue  the  Assembly  to  his 
will,  he  decided  to  adopt  a  conciliatory  policy,  and  to  the 
bills  presented  he  promptly  affixed  his  signature.  The  As- 
sembly, willing  to  reciprocate,  voted  the  Governor  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  for  arrearages  of  his  salary.  This  reconcilia- 
tion was  lasting,  the  relations  of  the  two  parties  during  the 
remaining  years  of  the  Governor's  administration  being 
marked  by  mutual  good-will. 

In  March,  1744,  war  was  declared  between  France  and 
Great  Britain.  The  Delaware  had  been  a  resort  for  the  pri- 
vateers of  the  enemy  in  time  of  war.  To  protect  the  Province 
against  the  encroachments  of  these,  batteries  were  planted 
along  the  shore  at  eligible  points  for  defence,  the  expense 
being  met  by  money  raised  by  a  lottery.  Governor  Thomas 
called  for  volunteers  by  proclamation,  appointed  necessary 
officers,  and  fixed  days  for  drill.  The  Governor  was  seconded 
in  his  efforts  by  Franklin,  who  issuecT  a  pamphlet  entitled 
Plain  Truth,  demonstrating  the  helpless  condition  of  the 
Colony,  and  the  necessity  for  union  and  discipline.  Ten 
thousand  men  were  rapidly  enlisted,  and  armed  at  their  own 
expense.  Franklin  was  elected  Colonel  of  the  Philadelphia 
regiment,  but  declined  in  favor  of  Alderman  Lawrence. 

On  the  5th  of  May,  1747,  the  Governor  communicated  to 


GEORGE  THOMAS.  145 

the  Assembly  the  death  of  the  eldest  of  the  Proprietors,  John 
Penn,  and  at  the  same  time  his  own  determination,  on  ac- 
count of  declining  health,  to  resign.  This  announcement 
was  received  with  manifestations  of  regret,  a  feeling  of  sin- 
cere respect  and  esteem  being  cherished  towards  him.  Gor- 
don, in  his  History  of  Pennsylvania,  presents  the  following 
estimate  of  his  character :  "  Governor  Thomas  was  active, 
industrious,  and  capable ;  attached  to  the  Province,  but  more 
devoted  to  the  Proprietaries  and  the  king.  In  his  zeal  for 
His  Majesty  he  overlooked  the  principles  and  character  of 
the  people  he  was  called  to  govern.  He  believed  himself 
sufficiently  strong  in  polemical  controversy  to  shake  the  opin- 
ions for  which  their  ancestors  had  broken  the  tender  charities 
of  kindred  and  country,  and  which  they  themselves  cherished 
with  enthusiasm.  Failing  in  this,  he  endeavored  to  intimi- 
date men  who,  though  declining  to  exhibit  military  courage, 
were  no  respecters  of  persons,  and  had  never  displayed  polit- 
ical cowardice.  When  experience  had  taught  him  properly 
to  appreciate  the  Quaker  character,  and  to  determine  how  far 
and  in  what  manner  their  loyalty  could  be  shown  unchecked 
by  their  consciences,  he  drew  from  them  without  difficulty 
whatever  he  could  in  propriety  demand.  His  moderation 
and  considerate  forbearance  towards  the  Quakers  during  the 
latter  years  of  his  administration  were  rewarded  by  the  es- 
teem of  the  people  and  the  confidence  of  the  legislature." 
10 


CHAPTER  VII. 

RICHARD   AND   THOMAS   PENN,    PROPRIETORS,   1746-1771. 

A  NTHONY  PALMER,  President  of  the  Council,  May, 
-£X  1747,  to  November  23,  1748.  —  Soon  after  his  resig- 
nation, Governor  Thomas  departed  for  Europe,  and  left  the 
government  in  the  hands  of  the  Council,  of  which  Anthony 
Palmer  was  president.  It  was  a  period  in  which  many  dan- 
gers threatened  the  Province.  The  enemy's  privateers  con- 
tinued to  infest  the  waters  of  the  Delaware.  The  Assembly 
was  urged  to  provide  means  of  defence.  The  dominant  ele- 
ment was  hy  principle  opposed  to  a  resort  to  force,  and 
framed  ingenious  excuses  for  refusing  to  vote  the  necessary 
means,  alleging  that  the  Colony  must  look  to  the  Crown  of 
England  for  protection ;  that  to  volunteer  provision  for  de- 
fence was  virtually  to  assume  the  responsibility  and  expense 
which  the  home  government  was  now  willing  to  bear.  The 
Quakers,  Moravians,  Mennonists,  and  other  kindred  sects, 
strenuously  opposed  even  a  defensive  war,  while  other  reli- 
gious sects,  with  equal  warmth,  advocated  a  vigorous  force 
policy.  The  pulpit  and  the  press  were  deeply  involved  in  the 
discussion,  and  the  population  was  divided  into  opposing  fac- 
tions upon  this  question. 

The  French,  who  were  now  laboring  to  connect  their  pos- 
sessions in  Canada  with  those  upon  the  Mississippi,  by  estab- 
lishing a  line  of  forts  and  posts  along  the  Alleghany  and 
Ohio  rivers,  were  busy  in  their  efforts  to  seduce  the  natives 
from  their  alliances  of  peace  and  friendship  with  the  Eng- 
lish, employing  artful  blandishments  and  the  most  showy 
und  attractive  presents.  The  policy  of  Pennsylvania  had 
always  been  to  spend  the  money  which  the  other  Colonies 
had  used  for  military  operations  against  the  savages,  in  pro- 

146 


ANTHONY  PALMER.  147 

viding  for  their  wants  and  ministering  to  their  native  taste 
for  display.  The  Indians  soon  discovered  the  advantage  of 
this  policy,  and  became  very  artful  in  making  the  most  of  it. 
They  desired  frequent  councils  for  brightening  the  chain  of 
friendship.  They  took  good  care  to  magnify  the  arts  of  the 
French  to  win  them  over,  and  to  insinuate  that  without  strong 
and  substantial  inducements  they  would  be  unable  much 
longer  to  withstand  the  pressure.  Insignificant  and  roving 
bands  sent  frequent  deputations  to  smoke  the  calumet  of 
peace  and  cement  friendship  with  suitable  tokens.  At  a 
great  council  held  at  Albany  in  1747,  Maryland  and  Virginia 
were  induced  to  join  Pennsylvania,  at  which  the  latter  dis- 
tributed goods  to  the  value  of  one  thousand  pounds.  A 
short  time  previous  to  the  holding  of  the  Albany  council, 
Pennsylvania  dispatched  a  m^enger,  in  the  person  of  Conrad 
Weiser,  to  visit  the  tribes  dwelling  in  the  central  and  west- 
ern parts  of  the  Province,  charged  with  observing  carefully 
the  disposition  of  the  Indians,  their  number,  their  means  of 
warfare,  the  position  of  the  French,  their  designs,  and  espe- 
cially the  arts  which  they  practised  to  gain  the  favor  of  the 
red  men.  He  was  especially  to  magnify  the  power  of  the 
English,  their  present  pacific  disposition,  and  their  designs 
of  distributing  costly  and  countless  presents,  and  to  particu- 
larly revive  the  remembrance  of  the  peaceful  policy  of  Penn- 
sylvania above  every  other  colony,  in  order  to  secure  for  it 
immunity  from  future  peril. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  1748,  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
which  secured  peace  between  France  and  Great  Britain,  was 
concluded,  and  the  excuse  for  hostilities  between  the  repre- 
sentatives of  these  nations  upon  the  North  American  conti- 
nent was  removed ;  but  the  fell  passions  of  the  savages  had 
been  aroused,  and  they  were  not  easily  nor  long  kept  in  sub- 
jection. The  sway  of  the  Council  under  the  presidency  of 
Palmer  lasted  a  little  more  than  two  years.  He  was  a  gen- 
tleman of  wealth,  who  had  removed  to  the  Colony  in  1708 
from  the  West  Indies.  "  He  lived,"  says  Watson,  "  in  a  style 
suited  to  his  circumstances,  keeping  a  coach  —  then  a 


148  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

luxury  —  and  a  pleasure -barge.  He  is  said  to  have  had 
twenty-one  children  by  his  first  wife,  all  of  whom  died  of 
consumption  :  some  of  his  descendants  by  a  second  wife  are 
now  living  in  Philadelphia."  He  died  in  1749. 

JAMES  HAMILTON,  Deputy  Governor,  November  23, 1748, 
to  October  3, 1754. —  On  the  23d  of  November,  James  Hamilton, 
American-born  and  possessed  of  considerable  landed  estate, 
son  of  Andrew  Hamilton,  formerly  for  several  successive  years 
speaker  of  the  Assembly,  arrived  in  the  Province  from  Eng- 
land, bearing  the  commission  of  Lieutenant-Governor.  His 
first  attention  was  directed  to  removing  grievances  of  the  In- 
dians dwelling  west  of  the  Susquehanna,  who  complained  that 
white  settlers  had  seized  and  occupied  the  choicest  lands  and 
most  eligible  locations  along  4|e  streams  and  water-courses — 
their  own  native  haunts  —  territory  which  had  never  been  ac- 
quired by  the  Proprietors,  and  were  of  right  their  own  posses- 
sions. Richard  Peters,  secretary  of  the  Province,  and  Conrad 
"Weiser,  Indian  interpreter,  and  an  old  friend  of  the  red  men, 
were  sent  to  remove  these  intruders,  —  squatters,  in  more 
modern  parlance.  They  executed  their  delicate  duty  in  a 
spirit  of  firmness,  but  with  exemplary  prudence.  The  set- 
tlers generally  consented  to  give  up  their  lands  without  oppo- 
sition, entering  into  recognizances  for  their  appearance,  and 
even  helping  with  their  own  hands  to  reduce  their  cabins  to 
ashes.  To  the  needy  the  Secretary  gave  money,  and  freely 
offered  them  homes  on  his  own  lands,  a  tract  of  two  million 
of  acres  which  had  been  formally  acquired  of  the  natives. 

But  the  troubles  resulting  from  these  encroachments  were 
of  small  moment  compared  with  those  which  were  now  threat- 
ening the  entire  line  of  English  settlements  from  Nova  Scotia 
to  the  Gulf.  The  treaty  of  peace  which  had  been  concluded 
between  the  London  and  the  Paris  governments  was  scarcely 
felt  across  the  ocean.  To  the  complaints  made  by  the  British 
ambassador  at  Versailles,  that  the  French  in  America  were 
encroaching  upon  the  English  Colonies,  fair  promises  of 


. 

• 


•o 


CL 


JAMES  HAMILTON.  149 

amendment  were  made,  and  orders  were  issued  in  the  most 
formal  manner  to  the  French  authorities  in  Canada  to  desist; 
but  at  the  same  time  secret  intimations  were  conveyed  to 
them  that  it  was  not  expected  that  these  orders  would  be 
obeyed,  that  their  aggressive  policy  was  at  heart  well  pleas- 
ing, and  that  transgressions  of  these  orders  would  be  winked 
at.  Accordingly,  the  Canadians  fearlessly  continued  their 
advance  upon  English  territory,  planning  the  establishment 
and  fortifying  of  military  posts  at  Presque  Isle,  Le  Boeuf, 
Venango,  and  Du  Quesne,  and  had  buried  pieces  of  copper 
along  the  line  of  the  Ohio  River  with  inscriptions  laying 
claim  to  the  soil.  This  state  of  affairs  had  been  discovered 
through  the  sagacity  and  penetration  of  one  to  whom  the 
country  afterwards  owed,  in  a  large  measure,  its  existence  as 
a  nation.  A  company  of  settlers  had,  previous  to  this  time, 
under  the  authority  of  the  Virginia  Assembly,  known  as  the 
Ohio  Company,  pushed  out  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  and 
coming  in  contact  with  the  French,  had  given  the  first  intel- 
ligence of  their  presence  south  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and  of 
their  armed  occup^ftion  of  the  territory.  To  ascertain  offi- 
cially the  fact  of  their  presence  and  their  future  intentions, 
Governor  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia,  determined  to  send  an 
agent  to  confer  with  the  French  commander,  who  had  his 
headquarters  at  Fort  Le  Bceuf.  He  selected  for  this  difficult 
and  dangerous  duty  Major  George  "Washington,  an  officer  of 
militia,  a  youth  of  less  than  twenty-two  years,  who  had  man- 
ifested spirit  and  ability.  Leaving  civilization  on  the  14th 
of  November,  1753,  with  an  escort  of  Indians  and  a  faithful 
friend,  and  plunging  into  the  forests,  he  followed  Indian 
paths,  crossing  mountains  and  swollen  streams,  ascending  the 
Alleghany  to  its  confluence  with  the  French  Creek,  and 
thence  up  that  stream  until  he  reached  Fort  Le  Boeuf,  the 
site  of  the  present  town  of  Waterford,  Erie  County,  where 
he  met  Legardeau  de  St.  Pierre,  the  French  commandant; 
and  having  accomplished  the  object  of  his  mission,  returned 
by  nearly  the  same  route,  having  been  absent  nearly  two 


150       »  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

months,  and  escaped  harm  from  the  lurking  savage  and  tl  e 
hardships  of  the  journey  at  an  inclement  season.  To  the 
remonstrances  of  Washington,  St.  Pierre  answered,  that  he 
occupied,  and  would  hold,  his  position  by  order  of  the  Mar- 
quis Du  Quesne,  governor  of  Canada,  to  whom  all  discussion 
of  the  rights  of  the  two  peoples  was  referred.  From  a  cap- 
tain and  interpreter,  De  La  Joncaire,  in  the  French  service, 
Washington  ascertained  that  the  French  claimed  the  country 
upon  the  Ohio  and  its  tributaries  by  reason  of  its  discovery 
by  La  Salle,  sixty  years  before,  and  that  their  present  activity 
in  getting  a  foothold  was  to  circumvent  the  Ohio  Company, 
which  was  pushing  settlements  upon  these  lands. 

Seeing  that  the  Ohio  Company  was  making  what  he 
deemed  encroachments  upon  the  territory  under  his  juris- 
diction, the  Marquis  Du  Quesne  had  already  remonstrated 
with  Clinton  and  Hamilton,  governors  of  New 'York  and 
Pennsylvania,  against  the  wrong.  His  expostulation  being 
disregarded,  the  French  seized  some  English  traders,  and 
sent  them  prisoners  to  France.  The  chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations 
were  informed  of  these  proceedings,  and  ordered  the  French 
away  from  their  lands ;  but  the  French  cared  little  for  the 
orders  of  the  Indians,  the  gaudy  presents  with  which  they 
were  always  kept  well  supplied  being  relied  on  to  effectually 
mollify  the  ill-will  of  the  crafty  savages;  and  when  these 
failed,  threats  and  intimidation  produced  the  desired  effect. 
Early  in  his  administration,  Governor  Hamilton  had  urged 
upon  the  Assembly  the  necessity  of  organizing  for  defence, 
and  establishing  block-houses  along  the  frontier;  and  the 
Proprietors  had  signified  their  willingness  to  contribute  liber- 
ally for  this  purpose.  But  the  Assembly  persistently  objected 
to  assuming  the  responsibility  for  even  defensive  warfare, 
preferring  to  vote  money  freely  to  secure  the  friendship  of 
the  Indians  by  liberal  gifts,  and  to  the  Crown  of  England 
from  whom  protection  was  claimed.  To  .«uch  an  extent  had 
this  system  of  granting  gratuities  to  the  Indians  been  carried, 
that  the  aggregate  for  a  single  year  amounted  to  eight  thou- 
sand pounds ;  and  yet  the  natives  were  not  appeased.  These 


JAMES  HAMILTON.  151 

began  to  be  felt  as  burdensome,  and  the  Assembly 
demanded  that  the  Proprietors  should  bear  a  share.  The 
latter  manifested  a  willingness  to  contribute  a  due  proportion 
of  the  expenditures  for  defence, —  the  sons  of  Penn  having 
long  since  renounced  the  Quaker  faith,  —  but  not  for  pur- 
chasing security,  sending  cannon  to  the  value  of  four  hun- 
dred pounds  for  the  protection  of  the  Delaware  and  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  and  in  various  other  ways  assuming  the 
payments  of  large  sums.  The  answer  to  this  manifesto  of 
the  Proprietors  was  drawn  by  Benjamin  Franklin,  who,  since 
1736,  had  been  clerk  of  the  Assembly,  and  was  in  1750 
elected  a  member.  It  was  adroitly  done,  the  weapons  of 
argument  being  wielded  with  a  master-hand,  the  rejoinder 
upon  some  indefensible  points  cutting  like  a  Damascus  blade. 
The  Proprietors  had,  by  implication,  said  that,  as  their  consent 
was  necessary  to  the  validity  of  all  laws  for  the  Colony,  it 
would  be  advisable  for  the  Assembly  to  carefully  regard  the 
Proprietary  interests.  To  this  the  Assembly  answered,  that 
"  their  chief  Governors  had  intimated,  in  plain  terms,  their 
disposition  to  make  advantage  of  their  place,  and  to  require 
from  the  people  a  pecuniary  consideration  for  facilitating  the 
passage  of  the  colonial  laws,  though  their  deputy  was,  and 
ought  to  be,  impowered  to  sanction  all  necessary  bills.  If 
such  corruption  existed,  it  must  be  discontinued ;  and  they 
would  rely  upon  the  goodness  of  their  sovereign  for  the  final 
confirmation  of  their  laws,  and  not  go  to  market  for  them  to 
a  subject."  *•  To  the  assertion  of  the  Proprietors,  that  the 
Assembly  should  be  content  with  the  answer  of  the  Deputy- 
Governor  to  their  complaints,  the  reply  was  made  :  "  To  for- 
bid an  appeal  from  the  Deputy-Governor  to  his  principal  was 
unheard  of.  No  king  of  England  had  ever  taken  upon  him- 
self such  state,  as  to  reject  the  personal  application  of  his 
meanest  subject,  when  aggrieved  by  his  officers.  Even  Sul- 
tans, Sophys,  and  other  Eastern  absolute  monarchs,  would 
sometimes  sit  whole  days  to  hear  the  complaints  and  petitions 
of  the'r  very  slaves;  and  were  the  Proprietaries  of  Pennsyl- 

*  Gordon,  page  265. 


152  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

vania  become  too  great  to  be  addressed  by  the  representatives 
of  the  freemen  of  their  Province?  If  they  must  not  be 
reasoned  with,  because  they  had  given  instructions  ;  nor  their 
deputies,  because  they  had  received  them ;  the  deliberations 
of  the  Assembly  were  useless;  they  had  only  to  learn  and 
obey  the  will  of  the  Proprietaries."  In  conclusion,  they  said: 
"  If  the  Province  must  be  at  more  than  two  thousand  pounds 
expense  per  annum  for  a  deputy  governor,  having  no  dis- 
cretion to  pass  laws,  as  was  intimated  in  the  Proprietaries' 
answer,  and  must  obtain  the  assent  of  the  chief  Governor  at 
more  than  three  thousand  miles  distance,  often  ignorant  or 
misinformed  of  its  affairs,  with  ears  peremptorily  closed  by 
having  given  instructions  to  their  deputies,  it  would  be  better 
that  the  Colony  should  be  under  the  immediate  care  of  the 
Crown ;  and  a  sincere  regard  for  the  memory  of  the  first 
Proprietary  made  them  apprehend  for  his  children,  that,  if 
they  followed  the  advice  of  Rehoboam's  counsellors,  they 
would,  like  him,  absolutely  lose  at  least  the  affections  of  the 
people ;  a  loss  which,  however  they  might  affect  to  despise, 
they  would  find  of  more  consequence  than  they  now  seemed 
to  apprehend." 

On  the  25th  of  June,  1751,  the  Parliament  of  Great  Brit- 
ain had  passed  a  bill  prohibiting  the  North  American 
Colonies  from  issuing  paper  currency.  Influenced  by  a 
statement  of  the  needs  of  the  Colony,  and  the  great  advan- 
tages to  commerce,  population,  and  internal  improvements 
derived  from  that  already  issued,  Pennsylvania  was  ex- 
empted from  the  provisions  of  this  bill.  Accordingly,  at  the 
next  session,  an  Act  was  passed  for  a  new  issue.  By  the 
instructions  of  the  Proprietors,  the  Deputy  Governor  was  for- 
bidden to  approve  any  money  bill  which  did  not  place  the 
whole  of  the  interest  at  the  disposal  of  themselves  or  depu- 
ties. Well  knowing  that  such  conditions  would  be  exceed- 
ingly odious,  the  Governor  had  kept  them  a  secret,  and, 
upon  one  pretext  or  another,  refused  his  assent  to  the  bill 
in  every  form  presented,  without  disclosing  the  real  reason 
of  the  veto.  This  refusal  gave  rise  to  a  series  of  sharp  and 


JAMES  HAMILTON.  153 

impassioned  messages  and  remonstrances  which  greatly  im- 
paired the  harmony  and  usefulness  of  the  Governor;  indeed, 
it  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  his  administration. 

In  February,  1753,  John  Penn,  son  of  Richard  Penn,  ar- 
rived in  the  Colony,  having  been  sent  by  the  Proprietors  to 
reside  a  few  years  among  the  people,  and  gain  a  knowledge 
of  their  character  and  wants,  with  the  expectation  of  eventu- 
ally making  him  Deputy  Governor.  By  unanimous  vote  of 
the  Council  he  was  made  a  member  of  that  body,  and  its 
presiding  officer,  the  place  of  the  eldest  councillor. 

As  early  in  the  spring  of  1754  as  troops  could  profitably 
move,  the  French,  under  command  of  Contrecceur,  from 
Forts  Le  Boauf  and  Venango,  moved  down  the  Alleghany 
River,  and  routing  a  small  party  of  the  Ohio  Company  who 
were  engaged  in  erecting  a  fort  at  the  confluence  of  the  Alle- 
ghany and  Monongahela  rivers,  took  up  the  line  of  work 
upon  the  Fort  where  the  English  had  left  it,  and,  out  of  re- 
spect to  the  Governor-General  of  Canada,  named  it  Du 
Quesne.  The  journal  of  Washington,  and  the  report  of  his 
embassage,  were  promptly  published  throughout  the  Colonies 
and  in  England,  and  produced  the  conviction  that  the  French 
were  determined  to  make  conquest  of  all  the  lands  upon  the 
tributaries  of  the  Ohio.  Accordingly,  measures  were  taken 
to  raise  troops  in  the  several  Colonies  to  defend  the  imperilled 
rights  of  the  Crown,  and  rescue  territory  which  had  been 
forcibly  entered.  Governor  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia,  was 
most  forward  in  this  work,  inasmuch  as  the  Ohio  Company, 
acting  under  his  charter,  was  meeting  resistance.  "Washing- 
ton took  the  lead  in  recruiting.  Governor  Hamilton  urged 
upon  the  Assembly  the  necessity  of  voting  money ;  but  al- 
though the  Assembly  readily  complied  by  providing  for  the 
issue  of  paper  currency,  the  impracticable  provisions  imposed 
by  the  Proprietors  prevented  any  money  from  being  realized. 
Early  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  May,  Washington,  who 
had  recruited  a  small  force  of  militia,  and  was  pushing  for- 
ward to  the  aid  of  the  Ohio  Company,  surprised  and  routed 
a  party  of  tlte  French  under  Jumonville,  near  the  Great 


154  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Meadows,  capturing  the  entire  party  save  one,  and  killing  the 
leader.  Washington  had  but  a  feeble  force,  to  which  the 
French  in  the  neighborhood  were  vastly  superior.  Anxiously 
but  vainly  waiting  for  reinforcements,  he  was  finally  obliged 
to  retire,  without  coming  to  a  decisive  engagement,  to  Fort 
Necessity,  at  the  Great  Meadows,  which  he  labored  to  fortify. 
But  on  the  4th  of  July  he  was  obliged,  after  nine  hours  of 
conflict  with  a  greatly  superior  force,  to  yield  to  the  French, 
who  permitted  him  to  march  out  with  the  honors  of  war. 

Governor  Hamilton  convened  the  Assembly  on  the  6th 
of  August  in  special  session  in  consequence  of  Washington's 
defeat;  and  money  was  freely  voted  as  before,  but  with  the 
same  abortive  result. 

Though  the  French  in  America  were  greatly  inferior  in 
numbers  to  the  English,  yet  they  had  the  immediate  advan- 
tage of  being  directed  by  one  governing  power,  which  ena 
bled  them  to  concentrate  all  their  resources  at  any  point  de- 
sired. This  advantage  had  been  foreseen  by  the  English 
Government,  and  already,  with  a  view  to  a  central  power, 
had  the  Ministry  recommended  a  uniform  system  of  taxation, 
—  which  finally  became  the  bone  of  contention  between  the 
mother  country  and  her  Colonies,  —  and  had  ordered  a  confer- 
ence of  representatives  of  the  Provinces  with  the  chiefs  of  the 
Six  Nations  at  Albany,  to  concert  measures  of  defence.  This 
council  convened  on  the  19th  of  June,  1754,  the  first  general 
Congress  of  the  Colonies  in  America.  Governor  Hamilton, 
unable  himself  to  attend,  commissioned  John  Penn  and  Rich- 
ard Peters  of  the  Council,  and  Isaac  Norris  and  Benjamin 
Franklin  of  the  Assembly.  The  Indians  were  lukewarm. 
Indeed,  they  had  shown  themselves  a  treacherous  people,  in- 
clined to  the  stronger  side.  A  plan  of  government  for  the 
Colonies,  prepared  by  Franklin  —  who  had  previously  medi- 
tated the  subject  and  had  brought  his  notes  with  him  —  was, 
on  the  10th  of  July,  adopted  substantially  as  submitted.  It 
provided  for  a  president-general  to  be  appointed  by  the  Crown, 
and  a  council  of  forty-eight  members  to  be  chosen  by  the 
Colonial  Assemblies.  It  was  provided  that  the  first  meeting 


ROBERT  HUNTER  MORRIS.  155 

should  be  held  at  Philadelphia,  which  place,  it  was  believed, 
members  from  Kew  Hampshire  even  might  reach  in  ten  or 
fifteen  days.  "  The  fate  of  this  constitution,"  says  the  biog- 
rapher of  Franklin,  "  was  singular.  It  was  disapproved  of 
by  the  Ministry  of  Great  Britain  because  it  gave  too  much 
power  to  the  representatives  of  the  people ;  and  it  was  re- 
jected by  every  Assembly  as  giving  to  the  president-general, 
the  representative  of  the  Crown,  an  influence  greater  than 
appeared  to  them  proper  in  a  plan  of  government  intended 
for  freemen."  * 

Early  in  1753  Governor  Hamilton  had  given  notice  to  the 
Proprietors  that  in  twelve  months  from  its  reception  he  would 
resign  his  commission.  He  was  led  to  this  step  by  the  dis- 
agreeable relations  which  the  royal  and  Proprietary  instruc- 
tions forced  him  to  hold  towards  the  Assembly.  Induced  to 
keep  his  instructions  secret  by  the  conviction  that  their  divul- 
gence  would  tend  to  exasperate  the  people,  he  was  obliged 
to  assign  various  pretexts  for  refusing  his  assent  to  many 
necessary  acts  of  legislation,  which  pretexts  wer"e  recognized 
as  frivolous  and  indefensible  by  the  Assembly,  well  calculated 
to  alienate  that  body,  and  to  place  the  Governor  before  il 
in  a  false  and  damaging  position. 

ROBERT  HUNTER  MORRIS,  Deputy  Governor,  October, 
1754,  to  August,  1756.  —  In  October,  1754,  Governor  Hamilton 
was  relieved  by  Robert  Hunter  Morris.  The  old  dispute  be- 
tween Governor  and  Assembly  over  the  money  bill  was  early 
renewed,  his  first  oificial  act  being  the  rejection  of  one  for  forty 
thousand  pounds.  Great  Britain  had  at  this  time  determined 
to  press  resistance  to  the  French  energetically,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania was  called  on  to  furnish  three  thousand  recruits,  sub- 
sistence, camp  equipage,  and  transportation.  Unable  to  secure 
an  appropriation  of  money,  by  reason  of  the  Proprietary  in- 
structions, the  Assembly  showed  its  desire  to  promptly  second 
the  purposes  of  the  Crown  by  resolving  to  borrow  five  thou- 

*  Life  of  Franklin,  p.  118. 


156  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

sand  pounds   on   its    own    credit   for   the    support  of   the 
troops. 

Early  in  March,  General  Braddock,  with  two  regiments  of 
the  line,  arrived  from  Cork,  Ireland,  at  Alexandria,  Virginia, 
whence  he  marched  to  Frederick,  Maryland.  Here  the 
haughty  General  found  that  no  means  of  transportation  had 
been  provided,  nor  could  any  be  obtained.  Franklin,  who 
had  been  sent  to  Braddock  by  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania, 
not  in  its  own  name,  but  to  represent  the  Colonial  cause  as 
Postmaster-General — an  office  which  he  then  held — indicated 
to  him  that  the  line  of  march  should  have  been  through 
Pennsylvania,  where  the  supplies  needed  were  abundant. 
Whereupon  Braddock  commissioned  him  on  liberal  terms  to 
procure  one  hundred  and  fifty  wagons  and  fifteen  hundred 
pack-horses.  Returning  immediately  to  Pennsylvania,  he 
circulated  notices  through  the  counties  of  Cumberland,  York,* 
and  Lancaster  as  he  went,  offering  good  prices  and  immunity 
from  impressment,  which  he  represented  as  imminent,  and 
in  a  few  day 3  had  all  the  wagons  he  desired  and  a  good  num- 
ber of  horses.  His  wants  in  this  particular  being  supplied, 
Braddock  commenced  his  advance,  with  entire  confidence  of 
complete  success.  After  brushing  aside  the  slight  resistance 
which  he  might  meet  at  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  leaving  a  gar- 
rison there,  he  would  move*  rapidly  upon  Forts  Niagara  and 
Frontignac,  having  no  suspicion  of  the  possibility  of  a  re- 
pulse. Possessed  of  the  ideas  of  soldiering  in  a  long-settled 
country,  with  broad,  solid  highways  on  which  to  move  his 
trains,  he  little  realized  the  obstacles  he  was  to  meet  in  fight- 
ing savages  in  the  wilderness.  Finding  only  Indian  trails, 
he  stopped  to  cut  away  the  forests,  build  bridges,  and  con- 
struct roads,  treating  with  contempt  the  advice  of  Washing- 
ton to  push  rapidly  forward  with  pack-horses.  By  the  time 
he  had  reached  the  Monongahela,  the  French,  who  had  been 
regularly  advised  of  his  movements,  had  had  ample  time 
to  gather  in  reinforcements,  and  fire  the  spirits  of  the  In- 
diana for  the  conflict.  On  the  morning  of  July  9th,  1755, 
when  within  seven  miles  of  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  while 


ROBERT  HUNTER  MORRI&  167 

inarching  confidently  on,  the  front  and  left  flank  of  rhe  col- 
umn was  suddenly  assailed  by  an  invisible  foe.  Momentary 
confusion  ensued;  but  soon  rallying,  the  troops  moved  in 
good  order,  the  officers  evincing  admirable  discipline  and 
courage.  But  every  tree  concealed  a  foe,  from  which  an  un- 
erring fire  was  delivered  with  deadly  effect.  Sir  Peter  Hal- 
kett,  the  second  in  command,  was  killed,  Braddock  mortally 
wounded,  and  every  mounted  officer  save  Washington  killed 
or  wounded.  Washington  had  two  horses  killed  under  him, 
and  four  bullets  through  his  coat,  but  still  kept  his  horse ; 
and  after  seeing  sixty-four  out  of  eighty-five  of  the  officers, 
and  half  the  privates,  killed  or  wounded,  withdrew  with  the 
remnant  of  the  forces,  losing  artillery  and  stores,  even  to  the 
private  cabinet  of  the  commander,  which  contained  his  in 
structions. 

The  defeat  of  Braddock  left  the  frontier  unprotected,  and 
struck  the  defenceless  settlers  with  terror.  The  Assembly 
immediately  voted  fifty  thousand  pounds  to  the  King's  use 
for  affording  protection;  but  Governor  Morris  returned  it 
without  his  approval,  because  it  provided  for  taxing  the 
property  of  the  Proprietors,  as  other  estates,  and  from  this 
decision  no  argument  could  move  him.  In  their  remonstrance 
against  his  decision  the  Assembly  said:  "  We  entreat  him  to 
reflect  with  what  reluctance  a  people  born  and  bred  in  free- 
dom, and  accustomed  to  equitable  laws,  must  undergo  the 
weight  of  this  uncommon  tax,  and  even  expose  their  persons 
for  the  defence  of  his  estate,  who,  by  virtue  of  his  power 
only,  and  without  the  color  of  right,  should  refuse  to  bear  the 
least  share  of  the  burden,  though  to  receive  so  great  a  bene- 
fit. With  what  spirit  can  they  exert  themselves  in  his  cause, 
who  will  not  pay  the  smallest  part  of  their  grievous  expenses  ? 
How  odious  must  it  be  to  a  sensible,  manly  people  to  find 
him,  who  ought  to  be  their  father  and  protector,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  public  calamity  and  eatress,  and  their  tenderness 
for  their  bleeding  country,  to  force  down  their  throats  laws 
of  imposition  abhorrent  to  common  justice  and  common 
reason ! " 


158  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Expeditions  undertaken  against  the  French  in  Nova  Scotia, 
and  at  Crown  Point,  were  more  successful,  and  in  a  measure 
atoned  for  the  failure  of  that  under  Braddock.  To  defray 
the  expenses  of  these  northern  operations,  the  Assembly 
voted  fifteen  thousand  pounds  in  bills  to  be  drawn  on  the 
trustees  of  the  loan  office.  The  Proprietors,  having  intelli- 
gence of  the  defeat  of  Braddock,  also  contributed  five  thou- 
sand pounds;  and  a  money  bill,  with  a  provision  for  the  organ- 
ization of  a  volunteer  militia,  was  passed. 

The  French  at  Du  Quesne  expected  that  operations  against 
them  would  be  renewed.  But  no  sooner  did  they  find  that 
the  campaign  had  been  abandoned,  and  that  a  long  line  of 
settlements  lay  all  unprotected  before  them,  inviting  attack 
and  easy  conquest,  than  they  lit  the  torch  of  devastation,  and 
the  whoop  of  the  savage  and  the  death-shriek  of  the  power- 
less inhabitant  was  heard  by  mountain  and  stream  along  all 
the  frontier.  The  most  appalling  outrages  were  committed, 
and  the  settlers  were  driven  in  until  the  enemy,  advancing 
through  Cumberland  County,  had  reached  the  Susquehanna, 
where  the  main  body  established  themselves,  about  thirty 
miles  above  Harris'  Ferry,  and  whence  wandering  bands  were 
sent  out  in  all  directions.  Even  the  Shawanese  and  Delaware 
Indians,  who  from  the  first  had  been  clamorous  to  take  up 
arms  on  the  side  of  the  English,  seeing  the  French  victorious, 
and  being  encouraged  by  the  latter  to  strike  for  the  recovery 
of  the  lands  which  they  had  sold,  following  the  inclination 
of  their  naturally  blood-thirsty  disposition,  raised  the  hatchet 
against  the  English.  •  In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1755,  it 
was  estimated  that  there  were  three  thousand  men  capable 
of  bearing  arms  west  of  the  Susquehanna.  A  twelvemonth 
later,  and  there  were  not  a  hundred. 

To  check  these  devastations,  a  chain  of  forts  and  block- 
houses was  erected  along  the  line  of  the  Kittatinny  Hills,  from 
the  Delaware  river  to  the  Maryland  line,  at  an  expense  to  the 
Province  of  eighty-five  thousand  pounds.  To  encourage  the 
formation  of  volunteer  militia  companies,  Franklin  pub- 
lished and  circulated  a  dialogue,  answering  the  objections  to 


WILLIAM  DENNY.  159 

a  legalized  militia,  and,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, was  induced  to  take  command  on  the  northwestern 
frontier.  Though  in  the  dead  of  winter,  he  raised  a  respect- 
able force,  and  in  the  beginning  of  January,  amid  rain  and 
frost,  commenced  the  erection  of  forts,  which  he  soon  made 
sufficiently  strong  to  withstand  the  attacks  of  an  enemy 
wanting  in  artillery,  and  had  them  completely  garrisoned. 
Recruits  having  been  rapidly  gathered  in,  and  an  adequate 
force  formed,  Franklin  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  take  his 
seat  in  the  Assembly,  and  was  succeeded  by  Colonel  Clap- 
ham,  an  officer  skilled  in  Indian  warfare.  The  Governor 
now  formally  declared  war  against  the  hostile  Indians,  though 
a  vigorous  protest  was  made  to  it  by  the  Quakers  in  the  As- 
sembly, and  finally,  by  the  mild  and  persuasive  methods  in 
which  they  were  skilled,  they  succeeded  in  inducing  the  Sha- 
wanese  and  Delawares,  and  other  tribes,  to  bury  the  hatchet. 
The  Assembly,  which  met  in  May,  in  answer  to  the  demands 
for  money  from  the  Governor,  prepared  a  bill,  with  the  old 
provision  for  taxing  the  Proprietors,  which  was  known  would 
be  rejected,  and  the  two  parties  were  sharpening  their  wits 
for  another  wrangle  over  it,  when  the  Governor  was  relieved 
of  his  office. 

Governor  Morris  was  the  son  of  Lewis  Morris,  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  Governor  of  New 
Jersey.  The  son  was  bred  a  lawyer  and  was  for  twenty-six 
years  a  Councillor  of  New  Jersey,  and  for  twenty  years  Chief 
Justice  of  that  Province.  His  administration  in  Pennsyl- 
vania was  anything  but  pleasant  or  profitable  to  himself  or 
the  Colony.  Hampered  by  the  instructions  of  the  Proprie- 
tors, he  was  prevented  from  acting  independently  as  his  judg- 
ment or  his  feelings  dictated,  the  record  of  his  official  acts 
being  little  more  than  a  recital  of  profitless  and  oftentimes 
acrimonious  quarrels  with  the  Assembly.  Upon  his  retire- 
ment he  returned  to  New  Jersey,  where  he  died  February 
20th,  1764. 

WILLIAM  DENNY,  Deputy  Governor,  August,  1756,  to 


160  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

October,  1759.— On  the  20th  of  August,  1756,  William  Denny 
arrived  in  the  Colony,  bearing  a  commission  of  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor, and  immediately  assumed  the  duties  of  his  office.  He 
was  received  bythe  authorities  of  the  city  and  the  Province 
with  demonstrations  of  rejoicing,  being  escorted  into  the 
city  by  the  regiments  of  Franklin  and  Duche,  and  enter- 
tained at  a  princely  dinner  given  at  the  State  House.  His 
reception  was  in  every  way  most  cordial;  but  an  exhibi- 
tion of  his  instructions  from  the  Proprietors  disclosed  the 
fact  that  he  was  bound  by  honor  and  fortune  to  withhold  his 
assent  from  every  bill  for  the  emission  of  money  that  did  not 
place  the  proceeds  at  the  joint  disposition  of  the  Assembly 
and  the  Governor ;  that  he  was  forbidden  to  pass  any  bill  in- 
creasing the  paper  currency  above  forty  thousand  pounds,  or 
to  confirm  existing  issues,  unless  Proprietary  ronts  were  paid 
in  sterling  money ;  and  that  though  Proprietary  lands,  actually 
leased,  could  be  taxed  out  of  the  rents,  yet  the  tax  could  in 
no  case  become  a  lien  upon  the  land.  To  these  instructions 
the  Governor  signified  his  determination  to  adhere,  which  at 
once  renewed  all  the  old  subjects  of  discord,  and  all  friendly 
feeling  was  at  an  end.  A  money  bill  was  passed,  to  which 
he  promptly  objected,  pleading  his  instructions,  and  the  war 
of  message  and  remonstrance  began  anew.  In  one  of  his 
messages,  during  his  first  year  of  office,  occurs  this  passage : 
"  Though  moderation  is  most  agreeable  to  me,  there  might 
have  been  a  Governor  who  would  have  told  you  the  whole 
tenor  of  your  message  was  indecent,  frivolous,  and  evasive." 
And  in  his  message  of  September,  1757,  occur  these  pas- 
sages: "  If  detraction  and  personal  abuse  of  your  Governor," 

—  "  but  I  have  been  so  accustomed  to  this  kind  of  treatment," 

—  "I  have  the  less  reason  to  regret  such  usage,  since  it  is 
obvious,  from  your  conduct  to  those  before  me,  you  are  not 
so  much  displeased  with  the  person  governing,  as  impatient 
of  being  governed  at  all." 

Under  the  Act  of  Assembly  providing  for  organizing 
volunteer  militia,  twenty-five  companies  had  been  raised, 
which  were  stationed  at  military  posts  along  the  line  of  the 


WILLIAM  DENNY.  161 

frontier.  Near  the  close  of  August,  Colonel  Armstrong  led 
a  force  of  about  three  hundred  of  these  troops  against  the 
Indian  town  of  Kittanning,  upon  the  Alleghany  River,  some 
twenty-five  miles  above  Fort  Du  Quesne.  On  approaching 
the  place,  the  main  body  made  a  detour  to  the  left,  and  came 
upon  the  river  some  three  hundred  yards  below  the  town  at 
three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  September.  At 
dawn  the  attack  was  made.  Shielded  from  view  by  the  tall 
corn  which  grew  upon  the  river  flats,  the  approach  was 
unobserved,  and  the  surprise  and  triumph  was  complete. 
Jacobs,  the  chief,  sounded  the  war-whoop,  and  defended 
himself  bravely  through  loop-holes  in  the  logs  of  his  cabin. 
The  warriors  generally  refused  quarter,  declaring  that  they 
were  men,  and  never  would  be  prisoners.  Finding  that  they 
would  listen  to  no  terms,  Armstrong  ordered  their  cabins  to 
be  fired.  "Again,"  says  Gordon,  "  the  Indians  were  required 
to  surrender,  and  again  refused  ;  one  of  them  declaring  that 
he  did  not  care  for  death,  as  he  could  kill  four  or  five  before 
he  died ;  and  as  the  heat  approached,  some  of  them  began  to 
sing.  Others  burst  from  their  houses  and  attempted  to  reach 
the  river,  but  were  instantly  shot  down.  Captain  Jacobs,  in 
getting  out  of  a  window,  was  shot,  as  also  a  squaw,  and  a  lad 
called  the  king's  son."  Considerable  quantities  of  gun- 
powder, and  small  arms,  with  valuable  goods  which  had  been 
presented  by  the  French  a  few  days  before,  were  destroyed. 
The  severity  of  this  blow  had  a  marked  eifect  upon  the  sur- 
rounding tribes,  who  had  not  before  felt  the  power  of  the 
English  arms.  The  gallantry  of  Armstrong  in  this  afi'air  was 
publicly  acknowledged,  and  he  was  presented  with  a  medal 
and  plate  by  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

On  account  of  the  repeated  failure  of  the  money  bills,  the 
Colonial  Treasury  had  become  greatly  embarrassed.  The 
need  of  money  was  imperative.  The  Assembly  accord- 
ingly passed  a  bill,  levying  one  hundred  thousand  pounds 
upon  all  estates,  real  and  personal,  including  alike  that 
of  Proprietor  and  people.  Governor  Denny  promptly  re- 
jected it:  and  the  Assembly,  unable  to  hold  out  longer, 
11 


162  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

was  forced  to  exempt  the  Proprietary  estates;  but  at  the 
same  time  determined  to  send  two  commissioners  to  Eng- 
land to  present  their  grievances  before  the  throne,  and  seek 
relief.  Isaac  Norris  and  Benjamin  Franklin  were  selected 
for  this  mission.  The  state  of  health  and  business  relations 
of  the  former  prevented  his  acceptance,  and  the  latter  pro- 
ceeded alone. 

During  the  winter  of  1756,  the  hostile  Indians  were  busy 
in  their  work  of  devastation  and  death,  and  during  the  spring 
and  summer  months  of  1757,  the  settlers  in  the  counties  of 
Cumberland,  Berks,  Northampton,  and  Lancaster  were  kept 
in  a  continual  state  of  alarm ;  the  savages  lurking  in  every 
covert,  and  shooting  laborers  as  they  sowed  and  gathered, 
and  murdering  and  scalping  helpless  women  and  children ; 
some  of  their  hostile  parties  pushing  down  within  thirty 
miles  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  The  military  operations 
against  the  French  and  Indians  during  the  year  1757  were 
sluggish,  being  conducted  under  the  chief  command  of  the 
Earl  of  Loudoun,  and  resulted  in  nothing  but  defeat  and  dis- 
grace. In  1758,  Loudoun  was  recalled ;  and  General  Aber- 
crombie,  with  Amherst,  "Wolfe,  and  Forbes  as  his  lieutenants, 
was  entrusted  with  the  chief  command.  William  Pitt  was 
now  at  the  head  of  the  British  Ministry,  and  was  resolved 
upon  wielding  power  in  America  with  that  mastery  which  he 
had  displayed  in  the  affairs  of  the  Continent. 

It  was  determined  to  direct  operations  upon  three  points: 
Louisburg,  the  forts  upon  the  lakes,  and  Fort  Du  Quesne.  In 
the  meantime  a  conference  was  held  at  Easton,  in  August, 
1757,  with  the  Indians,  at  which  the  Governors  of  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  and  Sir  William 
Johnson,  the  victor  over  the  Baron  Diesker  in  the  battle 
upon  Lake  George,  in  August,  1755,  were  invited  to  partici- 
pate. Delegates  from  the  "Friendly  Association"  of  Quakers 
were  also  present,  and  assisted  materially  in  inclining  the 
savages  to  peaceful  counsels.  Charles  Thomson,  Master  of  the 
Quaker  Free  School,  of  Philadelphia,  subsequently  Secretary 
of  the  American  Congress,  acted  as  secretary  to  the  Indians. 


WILLIAM  DENNY.  163 

The  result  of  the  council  was  a  compact  of  peace  with  the 
English  by  the  tribes  represented.  General  Abercrombie,  in 
person,  led  the  main  body  of  his  forces  against  the  forts  upon 
the  lakes.  In  an  attack  upon  Ticonderoga,  —  a  fort  erected 
by  the  French  in  1756,  upon  a  narrow  neck  of  land  between 
Lakes  George  and  Champlain, —  he  was  repulsed  with  griev- 
ous loss.  But  at  Frontignac  he  was  successful  j  where  large 
captures  of  guns  and  military  stores  were  made,  and  the 
French  force,  routed,  was  followed  and  destroyed.  General 
Forbes  was  intrusted  with  the  operations  against  Fort  Du 
Quesne.  With  a  detachment  of  Abercrombie's  army,  and 
the  militia  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  under  command 
of  Colonels  Bouquet  and  Washington,  he  marched  from  Car- 
lisle in  July,  1758,  and,  after  severe  lighting  in  front  of  the 
fort,  compelled  its  evacuation,  the  French  escaping  to  their 
settlements  upon  the  Mississippi.  The  fort  was  seized  and 
garrisoned  by  four  hundred  Pennsylvanians,  and  the  rest  of 
the  army  returned,  and  was  quartered  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  Lancaster,  Reading,  and  Philadelphia;  but  was  finally  put 
in  barracks  at  Lancaster. 

It  was  determined  to  put  a  finishing  stroke  to  the  French 
power  in  America  in  the  campaign  of  1759.  The  general 
plan  involved  active  operations  along  all  the  line  of  the  Col- 
onies. General  Stanwix,  who  was  intrusted  with  the  com- 
mand of  the  Southern  Department,  kept  close  guard  of  the 
frontier  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  About  the  middle 
of  July,  General  Prideaux,  with  a  force  strengthened  by 
friendly  Indians,  invested  Fort  Niagara,  near  the  Falls. 
While  reconnoitring  the  trenches,  he  was  killed  by  the  burst- 
ing of  a  coehorn,  and  was  succeeded  by  Sir  William  Johnson. 
A  large  French  force,  drawn  from  Detroit,  Yenango,  and 
PresqueTsle,  which  approached  for  the  relief  of  the  fort,  was 
met,  and,  after  a  severe  battle,  was  routed,  and  its  comman- 
der and  all  his  officers  were  taken  prisoners ;  whereupon  the 
garrison  of  the  fort  surrendered.  General  Amherst,  with 
twelve  thousand  troops,  fell  upon  Forts  Ticonderoga  and 
Crown  Point ;  but  enc  "»untered  little  resistance,  the  French, 


164  PROPRIETARY  GCVERNMENT. 

upon  his  approach,  withdrawing  towards  Quebec.  Finally, 
to  crown  this  series  of  triumphs,  General  "Wolfe,  with  an 
army  of  eight  thousand  men,  moved  for  the  reduction  of 
Quebec.  The  place  was  defended  by  a  French  army  of  six 
thousand  men,  under  General  Montcalm,  in  a  position  strong 
;by  nature,  and  rendered  seemingly  impregnable  by  art.  All 
attempts  to  draw  his  adversary  from  this  stronghold  having 
proved  fruitless,  Wolfe  moved  his  forces  up  the  river,  as  if  to 
land  above;  but,  during  the  night  of  the  12th  of  September, 
dropped  quietly  down,  under  cover  of  darkness,  and  landing 
upon  a  rugged  shore  deemed  impracticable  for  the  debarka- 
tion of  an  assailing  force,  and  hence  little  guarded,  ascended 
the  steep  bluff',  and  at  daylight  stood  in  hostile  array  upon 
the  plains  of  Abraham.  Montcalm  immediately  determined 
to  give  battle,  and  after  a  desperate  engagement  fought  with 
great  bravery  and  determination,  in  which  the  commanders 
of  both  armies  were  killed,  the  English  gained  a  signal  and 
complete  triumph.  The  news  of  this  succession  of  brilliant 
victories  was  received  in  Great  Britain  with  demonstrations 
of  delight.  A  day  of  thanksgiving  to  God  throughout  the 
royal  dominions  was  proclaimed,  and  Parliament  voted  a 
monument  in  "Westminster  Abbey  to  the  fallen  hero  by 
whose  gallantry  the  last  great  .victory  was  won. 

Franklin,  who  had  arrived  in  London  in  July,  1757,  laid 
his  instructions  before  the  Ministry,  and  was  at  once  involved 
in  a  controversy  with  the  Proprietors.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  year  1757,  Robert  Charles  and  Richard  Partridge  were 
sent  to  Franklin  as  associates.  A  few  days  after  his  arrival, 
Franklin  had  presented  a  remonstrance  to  the  Proprietors 
against  the  instructions  they  had  given  to  their  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor. In  February,  1759,  the  Proprietors  sent  a  message 
to  the  Assembly  in  answer  to  this  remonstrance,  defending 
their  course.  In  the  meantime  Franklin,  finding  that  the 
cause  of  the  Assembly  was  being  grossly  misrepresented,  and 
that  ignorance  prevailed  relative  to  the  real  condition  of  the 
Colony,  had  recourse  to  the  press,  and,  by  articles  in  the 
newspapers,  and  by  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Historical  Review  of 


JAMES  HAMILTON.  165 

the  Constitution  and  Government  of  Pennsylvania,"  sought 
to  enlighten  public  sentiment.  The  Proprietors  had  pro- 
posed to  allow  their  estates  to  be  taxed,  provided  their  value 
should  be  assessed  by  commissioners,  of  their  own  appoint- 
ment. This  the  Assembly  resisted,  and  passed  the  money 
bill  of  the  session  of  1759,  with  no  discrimination  in  assess- 
ments. This  was  resisted  by  the  Proprietors  before  the  Privy 
Council,  but  it  finally  received  the  royal  sanction  on  the  en- 
gagement of  Franklin  that  the  Deputy  Governor  should  be 
admitted  to  a  participation  in  the  disposal  of  the  revenues, 
that  the  bills  issued  should  be  a  tender  in  payment  of  quit- 
rents,  and  that  the  located  uncultivated  lands  of  the  Proprie- 
tors should  be  assessed  as  low  as  the  lowest  uncultivated 
lands  of  the  settlers.  This  final  decision  of  a  vexed  question, 
substantially  in  the  interest  of  the  Assembly,  was  a  signal 
triumph  for  the  Commission,  and  Franklin  was  appointed 
agent  for  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts,  Maryland,  and 
Georgia,  in  addition  to  Pennsylvania. 

Governor  Denny  had  received  no  pay  since  his  first  arrival 
in  the  Colony,  when  he  was  presented  with  five  hundred 
pounds,  all  appropriations  since  having  fallen  by  want  of  his 
signature.  His  needs  finally  became  such  that  he  determined 
to  disregard  his  instructions,  and  on  signing  the  bill  taxing 
the  Proprietary  estates,  he  was  voted  a  thousand  pounds,  a 
like  sum  on  approving  the  bill  re-emitting  paper  currency 
without  a  clause  protecting  the  Proprietary  interests,  and  an- 
other like  sum  on  approving  that  for  recording  of  warrants 
and  surveys.  This  course  gave  offence  to  the  Proprietors, 
and  he  was  accordingly  recalled.  The  Governor  had  a  diffi- 
cult  part  assigned  him  to  act  —  a  part  that  his  judgment  evi- 
dently did  not  approve.  He  was  active  and  judicious  in  con- 
certing measures  for  the  defence  of  the  Colony  according  to 
the  means  afforded  him,  and  maintained  the  dignity  and 
decorum  of  the  gubernatorial  office. 

JAMES  HAMILTON,  Deputy  Governor,  October,  1759,  to 
No\-  "nber,  1763.  —  Upon  the  recall  of  Governor  Denny,  James 


166  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Hamilton  was  again  invested  with  the  office  of  Governor. 
Believing  that  the  Colonies  had  borne  more  than  their  pro- 
portionate share  of  the  hurden  in  furnishing  troops  and  money 
in  the  late  war,  the  Prime  Minister  of  Great  Britain  recom- 
mended, as  he  had  promised  to  do,  an  appropriation  to  sat- 
isfy this  excess  of  expense.  Two  hundred  thousand  pounds 
per  annum  for  five  years  was  voted  to  the  Colonies,  the  share 
of  Pennsylvania  being  twenty-six  thousand  pounds. 

During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1759-60  the  Cherokee  In- 
dians, who  were  very  strong  in  the  South,  commenced 
hostilities.  The  militia,  under  Governor  Littleton,  of  South 
Carolina,  was  led  against  them  with  some  success;  but  not 
being  in  sufficient  force  to  intimidate,  it  only  served  to  em- 
bitter the  savages  and  stir  them  to  more  desperate  deeds  of 
butchery.  A  detachment  of  the  British  army,  led  by  Colonel 
Montgomery,  was  sent  to  subdue  them,  but  suffered  disastrous 
repulse.  In  May  of  the  following  year,  Colonel  Grant  was 
dispatched  against  them  with  a  strong  force,  who  defeated 
them  in  battle,  burnt  their  towns,  and  ravaged  their  territory, 
compelling  them  to  sue  for  peace. 

During  the  winter  of  1760  the  French  made  extraordinary 
efforts  to  recover  what  they  had  lost  in  the  previous  cam- 
paign. But  in  this  they  were  unsuccessful,  and  General  Am- 
herst,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  British 
army,  gatbering  in  the  forces  from  Quebec  and  from  lakes 
Champlain  and  Ontario,  appeared  before  Montreal,  where 
the  French  army  was  concentrated,  and  demanded  its  surren- 
der. Seeing  that  resistance  would  be  unavailing,  the  French 
yielded  to  the  demand,  and  Montreal,  Detroit,  and  all  other 
strongholds  in  Canada  submitted  to  English  rule. 

On  the  25th  of  October,  1760,  George  II.  died,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  grandson,  George  III.  Early  in  the  year 
1762,  war  was  declared  between  England  and  Spain,  the  lat- 
ter being  shortly  after  joined  by  France.  The  city  of  Phila- 
delphia was  wholly  without  defence,  and  lay  exposed  to  the 
visits  of  the  enemy's  privateers.  Governor  Hamilton  con- 
vened the  Assembly,  which  voted  the  sum  receivable  from 


JAMES  HAMILTON.  167 

Great  Britain,  for  preparations  to  meet  the  threatened  danger, 
and  five  thousand  pounds  additional,  for  erecting  a  fort  and 
mounting  it  with  cannon  on  Mud  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Schuylkill.  But  the  war  was  of  short  continuance,  peaco 
being  concluded  in  November,  1762,  by  which  Nova  Scotia, 
Canada,  Louisiana  to  the  Mississippi,  and  Florida,  were  given 
up  to  Great  Britain. 

The  native  tribes  beheld  this  sudden  expansion  of  powei 
and  influence  with  concern.  The  English  were  everywhere 
encroaching  upon  their  pleasant  seats  and  hunting-grounds, 
and  pushing  them  farther  and  farther  towards  the  setting 
sun.  To  stem  the  tide,  and,  if  possible,  recover  their  coun- 
try, the  Shawanese  and  the  tribes  upon  the  Ohio  formed  a 
secret  league,  under  Pontiac,  a  famous  chief  of  the  Ottowas, 
and  planned  to  strike  a  sudden  and  concerted  blow  along 
the  whole  frontier.  It  fell  in  the  spring  of  1763.  Unsus- 
picious of  any  danger,  the  settlers  were  busy  in  their  fields. 
Stealing  upon  them  unawares,  the  savages  shot  down  and 
murdered  them  without  mercy.  The  whole  line  of  the 
frontier  was  ablaze  with  the  torch  and  musket  of  the  savage. 
Forts  Le  Bceuf,  Venango,  Presque  Isle,  La  Ray,  St.  Joseph's, 
Miamis,  Ouachtanon,  Sandusky,  and  Michilimackinack,  were 
simultaneously  assailed,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Indians,  the  garrisons  being  mercilessly  slaughtered.  Fort 
Pitt,  Niagara,  and  Detroit  were  able  to  hold  out,  but  having 
only  weak  garrisons,  could  aiford  no  protection  to  the 
wide  territory  around  them.  The  slaughter  along  all  the 
border  was  indiscriminate,  and  the  weak  settlements  one 
after  another  were  broken  up,  until  Shippensburg,  Cumber- 
land County,  became  the  outpost  of  civilization.  "  The  sav- 
ages," says  Gordon,  "  set  fire  to  houses,  barns,  corn,  hay,  and 
everything  that  was  combustible.  The  wretched  inhabitants, 
whom  they  surprised  at  night,  at  their  meals,  or  in  the  labors 
of  the  fields,  were  massacred  with  the  utmost  cruelty  and 
barbarity,  and  those  who  fled  were  scarce  more  happy.  Over- 
whelmed by  sorrow,  without  shelter  or  means  of  transporta- 
tion, their  tardy  flight  was  impeded  by  fainting  women  and 


168  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

weeping  children.  ...  In  the  towns,  every  stable  and  hovel 
was  crowded  with  miserable  refugees,  who,  having  lost  their 
houses,  their  cattle,  and  their  harvest,  were  reduced  from 
independence  and  happiness  to  beggary  and  despair.  The 
streets  were  filled  with  people ;  the  men,  distracted  by  grief 
for  their  losses,  and  the  desire  of  revenge,  were  poignantly 
excited  by  the  disconsolate  females  and  bereaved  children 
who  wailed  around  them.  In  the  woods  for  some  miles 
on  both  sides  of  the  Susquehanna,  many  families,  with 
their  cattle,  sought  shelter,  being  unable  to  find  it  in  the 
towns." 

Colonel  Armstrong,  collecting  a  force  in  Cumberland 
County  of  three  hundred  volunteers,  advanced  upon  Muncy 
and  Great  Island,  destroying  their  towns  and  stores;  but 
the  savages  withdrew  before  him.  Fort  Pitt,  which  had  for 
some  time  been  surrounded  and  cut  off  from  communication 
with  the  Government,  was  repeatedly  attacked  by  musketry, 
and  flaming  arrows.  But  still  the  garrison  held  out.  At 
length,  General  Armstrong  sent  Colonel  Bouquet  for  its  re- 
lief. Fort  Ligonier,  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  was  reached 
in  safety,  and  a  party  of  thirty  trusty  men  was  dispatched  in 
advance,  who  pushed  past  the  savage  warriors  at  night  and 
entered  Fort  Pitt  with  intelligence  that  succor  was  approach- 
ing, to  the  great  joy  of  the  garrison.  But  the  main  body 
was  attacked  near  Bushy  Run,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1763, 
and  before  the  commander  was  aware  of  the  presence  of  a 
foe,  he  found  himself  surrounded  and  hard-pressed  on  all 
sides.  Gallantly  did  the  little  body  of  less  than  four  hundred 
men  face  the  enemy;  but  with  equal  resolution  did  the  savage 
warriors  press  upon  them.  Utter  destruction  seemed  inevi- 
table. Finally,  Bouquet  laid  an  ambuscade.  He  ordered  a 
part  of  his  force  to  steal  away,  as  in  retreat,  while  the  main 
body  was  disposed  so  as  to  fall  upon  the  Indians  should  they 
attempt  to  follow.  The  savages  eagerly  fell  into  the  snare, 
and  were  routed  with  great  slaughter,  when  Bouquet  moved 
forward  to  Fort  Pitt  unmolested. 


JOHN  PENN.  169 

JOHN  PENN,  Deputy  Governor,  November,  1763-1771.  — In 
November,  1763,  Governor  Hamilton  was  superseded  by 
John  Penn,  son  of  Richard  Penn,  who  had  come  to  the  Col- 
ony in  1753,  and  had  acted  as  President  of  the  Council. 
During  the  fall  and  early  winter  following  the  Pontiac  war, 
the  condition  of  the  Province  along  the  frontier  was  deplora- 
ble. Notwithstanding  the  utmost  vigilance  of  the  inhabitants 
who  had  enrolled  themselves  as  Rangers,  many  a  hearthstone 
was  laid  waste.  The  Moravian  and  other  friendly  Indians 
were  strongly  suspected  of  treachery.  Not  that  they  them- 
selves were  guilty  of  the  outrages,  but  receiving  guns  and 
ammunition,  they  traded  them  to  the  hostile  roving  bands. 
On  strong  representations  made  to  the  Government,  after 
investigation  by  the  Assembly,  the  Indians  at  the  towns  of 
Nain  and  Wechquetank  were  removed  to  Philadelphia. 

Contiguous  to  the  Scotch-Irish  settlements  of  Donegal  and 
Paxton,  in  what  was  then  Lancaster  County,  was  the  Indian 
village  of  Conestoga,  consisting  of  a  score  of  men  and  women. 
They  were  a  miserable  set  of  savages;  but  Governor  Penn, 
notwithstanding  the  earnest  request  of  Colonel  (Rev.)  John 
Elder  and  John  Harris,  failed  to  remove  them.  Indian 
marauders  and  assassins  were  traced  by  Colonel  Elder's  inde- 
fatigable Paxton  Boys,  or  Rangers,  to  Conestoga,  and  as 
no  assistance  or  protection  could  be  had  from  the  govern- 
ment, they  took  measures  to  destroy  every  one.  A  number 
escaped,  and  were  placed  by  the  magistrates  in  the  work-house 
at  Lancaster  for  protection ;  but  their  retreat  was  broken  into 
by  the  infuriated  populace,  and  they  met  the  fate  of  their 
brethren.  In  the  destruction  of  the  Conestogas  several  well- 
known,  blood-thirsty  savages  lurking  there  were  killed. 

This  act  of  the  frontiersmen,  which  aided  eventually  in 
giving  peace  to  the  borders,  caused  intense  excitement  in  the 
interior  counties,  and  Governor  Penn  issued  several  procla- 
mations, offering  rewards  for  the  chief  actors  in  that  affair. 

Meetings  were  held  on  the  frontiers  to  protest  against  the 
measures  of  the  Government,  and  delegates  were  appointed 


170  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

to  proceed  to  Philadelphia  and  lay  before  the  Governor  ind 
the  Council  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  news  of  the  coming  of  these  representatives,  augmented 
by  numbers  from  Berks  and  the  adjoining  counties,  created 
an  alarm,  and  their  object  being  misunderstood,  the  militia 
was  called  out. 

The  Moravian  Indians  were  removed  to  Province  Island, 
and  placed  under  heavy  guard;  but  feeling  insecure,  they 
asked  to  be  sent  to  England.  Governor  Penn  sent  them 
for  this  purpose  to  New  York;  but  the  Governor  of  that 
Colony  refused  to  allow  them  to  enter  his  dominions,  and 
Governor  Franklin  of  New  Jersey  would  not  grant  them 
permission  to  remain  in  his.  They  were  obliged  thus  to 
return  to  Philadelphia,  where  they  were  placed  in  barracks 
for  protection.  The  Paxton  Boys,  being  then  at  German- 
town,  a  committee,  of  which  Franklin  was  a  member,  was 
sent  by  Governor  Penn  to  confer  with  them.  The  majority  of 
them,  after  some  persuasion,  returned  to  their  homes,  leaving 
Matthew  Smith  and  James  Gibson  to  plead  their  cause,  who 
said  in  justification  of  their  conduct,  "  That  whilst  more  than 
a  thousand  families,  reduced  to  extreme  distress,  during  the 
last  and  present  war,  by  the  attacks  of  skulking  parties  of 
Indians  upon  the  frontier,  were  destitute,  and  were  suffered 
by  the  public  to  depend  on  private  charity,  a  hundred  and 
twenty  of  the  perpetrators  of  the  most  horrid  barbarities, 
were  supported  by  the  Province,  and  protected  from  the  fury 
of  the  brave  relatives  of  the  murdered."  *  Prosecutions 
were  commenced  against  some  of  the  parties  to  the  outbreak, 
but  so  many  were  implicated,  and  so  excellent  the  character 
of  many  of  them,  that  no  convictions  were  ever  secured. 
There  were  two  policies  advocated  in  the  Colony  towards  the 
Indians  at  this  time,  which  were  in  direct  antagonism. 
"  Whilst  one  party  was  laboring  to  destroy  by  fire  and  sword 
a  perfidious  and  ferocious  enemy,  the  other  was  striving  to 
conciliate  an  offended  friend."  To  attempt  to  pursue  both 
of  these  policies  at  once  could  but  result  disastrously. 

*  Gordon,  p.  408. 


JOHN  PENN.  171 

The  British  Ministry  determined  to  prosecute  the  campaign 
of  1764  against  the  Indians  with  vigor  along  all  the  frontier. 
Pennsylvania  was  called  on  for  one  thousand  troops.  The 
Assembly  voted  fifty  thousand  pounds ;  but  a  difference  of 
opinion  arising  respecting  the  interpretation  of  the  agree- 
ment formed  by  the  Proprietors  with  Franklin  relative  to  as- 
sessments, the  Governor  withheld  his  assent  to  the  bill,  and 
the  Assembly  was  finally  forced,  by  the  exigencies  of  the  case, 
to  modify  it  so  as  to  meet  his  views ;  but  adopted  a  series  of 
resolutions  condemnatory  of  the  course  of  the  Proprietors, 
and  concluding,  that,  for  the  reasons  set  forth,  "  It  was  the 
opinion  of  the  House,  that  the  powers  of  government  ought, 
in  all  good  policy,  to  be  separated  from  the  power  attending 
that  immense  property,  and  lodged  where  only  they  could  be 
properly  and  safely  lodged,  in  the  hands  of  the  king."  After 
passing  these  resolutions,  the  Hoilse  determined  to  adjourn 
to  consult  the  people  whether  an  address  should  be  drawn 
praying  his  Majesty  to  take  the  Province  under  his  imme- 
diate protection  and  government.  After  an  interval  of  fifty 
days  the  Assembly  again  convened,  and  petitioned  the  king 
to  assume  the  direct  government  of  the  Province,  though 
upon  the  adoption  of  this  policy,  strong  opposition  was  made 
by  the  venerable  Isaac  Norris,  John  Dickinson,  and  a  few 
others.  The  Quakers,  as  a  denomination,  favored  the 
change,  and  sent  up  a  petition  from  their  body  urging  it. 
In  the  elections  which  followed  the  sittings  of  this  Assembly, 
a  reaction  seems  to  have  taken  place,  and  some  of  the  old 
members,  who  had  advocated  the  change,  were  defeated, 
among  them  Franklin ;  still  there  was  a  majority  which 
favored  it. 

On  the  7th  of  July,  1765,  Governor  Penn  again  declared 
war  against  the  Shawanese  and  Delaware  Indians,  who  had 
been  practising  hostilities  with  great  barbarity,  and  early  in 
August,  Colonel  Bouquet,  with  the  Pennsylvania  troops, 
started  from  Carlisle  for  Fort  Pitt.  By  the  3d  of  October  he 
had  reached  the  forks  of  the  Muskingum,  a  tributary  of  the 
Ohio,  the  very  heart  of  the  Indian  territory,  where  were 


172  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

their  finest  villages  und  most  fruitful  fields,  the  fairest  of  their 
possessions.  So  fearless  and  rapid  were  the  movements  of 
Bouquet,  that  the  savages  were  everywhere  stricken  with  ter- 
ror, and  they  soon  came  as  suppliants,  suing  for  peace  and 
begging  that  their  homes  might  be  spared.  Terms  of  pacifi- 
cation were  concluded,  by  which  they  agreed  to  abstain  from 
hostilities  until  a  formal  treaty  could  be  concluded  with  Sir 
William  Johnson,  agent  of  Indian  Affairs  in  America,  and  to 
deliver  up  all  the  white  captives  who  had  been  carried  away 
during  the  several  years  of  hostility.  "  Two  hundred  and 
six  prisoners,  men,  women,  and  children,"  says  Gordon, 
"  were  restored,  many  of  whom  were  joyfully  received  in  the 
camp  by  their  relations,  who  had  joined  the  army  with  the 
design  of  redeeming  them  from  slavery  or  avenging  their 
deaths.  Some  of  the  captives  had  dwelt  long  enough  with 
the  Indians  to  acquire  a  taste  for  their  wild  and  simple  life, 
and  to  inspire  their  masters  with  ardent  affection.  Force 
was  necessary  in  several  instances  to  bring  the  prisoners  to 
the  camp,  where  their  captors,  with  cheeks  bedewed  with  tears, 
delivered  them  to  their  countrymen,  loading  them  with  corn, 
skins,  and  other  property,  bestowed  upon  them  whilst  in  the 
Indian  families.  On  the  return  of  the  army,  some  of  the 
Indians  obtained  leave  to  accompany  their  former  captives  to 
Fort  Pitt,  and  employed  themselves  in  hunting  and  carrying 
provisions  for  them  on  the  road."  Pledges  were  also  given 
for  the  delivery  of  all  captives  held  by  these  tribes,  many  of 
whom  had  become  widely  scattered  and  could  not  be  imme- 
diately reached. 

But  there  was  another  subject  at  that  time  under  con- 
sideration in  the  British  Parliament,  which,  in  its  bearing 
upon  the  Colonies,  overshadowed  every  other.  It  was  that 
of  taxing  them.  As  early  as  1739,  Sir  William  Keith  had 
proposed  to  realize  funds  for  the  support  of  troops  to  defend 
the  frontiers  by  a  duty  to  be  laid  by  Parliament,  in  all  the 
Colonies,  on  stamped  paper.  The  revenue  likely  at  that 
time  to  accrue  from  such  a  duty  was  too  insignificant  to  merit 
serious  consideration ;  but  the  power  and  resources  displayed 


JOHN  PENN.  173 

by  the  Colonies  in  the  late  war  had  excited  the  attention  of  the 
Ministry,  and,  near  the  close  of  the  year  1763,  Mr.  Grenville, 
the  British  minister,  communicated  to  the  agents  of  the  Col- 
onies his  intention  of  drawing  revenue  from  them  by  means 
of  stamp-duty.  The  Colonies,  on  being  informed  of  this, 
remonstrated  against  it.  Laying  this  plan  aside  for  the  time, 
Grenville  imposed  a  tax  on  imports,  and  required  that  it 
should  be  paid  in  gold  and  silver.  This  proved  onerous  and 
especially  destructive  to  Commerce.  In  October,  1765,  the 
Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  submitted  a  proposition  to  the  sev- 
eral Assemblies,  for  obtaining  the  views  held  in  all  the  Colo- 
nies upon  the  subject  of  Parliamentary  taxation,  with  a  view 
to  uniting  in  a  common  petition  to  the  British  Government. 
This  was  favorably  received  and  acted  on  by  the  Assembly 
of  Pennsylvania.  But  not  content  with  petition,  the  Assem- 
bly determined  to  send  an  agent  familiar  with  the  subject  to 
represent  its  interests  at  Court.  Franklin  was  selected  for 
this  duty,  though  his  appointment  was  vigorously  opposed  by 
the  friends  of  the  Proprietors,  on  account,  of  his  advocacy  of 
a  transfer  of  the  government  of  the  Colony  to  the  Crown. 

On  the  22d  of  March,  1765,  the  obnoxious  Stamp  Act  — 
that  infringement  of  prerogative  which  gave  occasion  to  the 
American  Revolution  and  the  ultimate  independence  of  the 
Colonies  —  was  passed.  It  excited  intense  opposition,  and, 
led  by  the  persuasive  eloquence  of  Patrick  Henry,  the  Vir- 
ginia Assembly  passed  resolutions  asserting  the  exclusive 
right  of  the  Colony  to  levy  taxes.  The  purposes  expressed 
in  these  resolves  were  generally  concurred  in  by  all  the  other 
Colonies.  In  view  of  the  threatening  attitude  of  affairs,  the 
Assembly  of  Massachusetts  proposed  a  meeting  of  commit- 
tees from  all  the  Colonial  Assemblies  in  a  general  Congress 
at  New  York,  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  1765.  To 
represent  Pennsylvania,  Messrs.  Fox,  Dickinson,  Bryan,  and 
Morton  were  appointed,  and  resolutions  for  their  guidance 
were  passed,  firmly  but  respectfully  declaring  that  when  his 
Majesty  shall  require  aid  from  the  Colony  to  be  levied  in  a 
constitutional  manner,  it  will  be  cheerfully  given,  and  that 


174  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

taxation  by  any  other  power  than  that  of  the  representatives 
of  the  people  in  assembly  met  is  unconstitutional. 

The  Stamp  Act  was  to  go  into  operation  on  the  1st  of  No- 
vember. Agents  for  the  sale  of  the  stamps  had  been  ap- 
pointed and  stamps  forwarded;  but  the  people  everywhere 
resolved  not  to  use  them.  The  newspapers  on  the  last  day 
of  October  were  dressed  in  mourning,  and  on  the  following 
day  their  issue  was  suspended,  their  publishers  resolving  not 
to  use  the  stamped  paper  required.  The  people  determined 
to  dress  in  none  but  cloth  of  their  own  manufacture,  and,  to 
increase  the  yield  of  wool,  resolved  not  to  eat  lamb  during 
the  year.  According  to  appointment,  the  Congress  of  the 
Colonies  met  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  1765,  at 
New  York,  and  a  petition  to  the  King  and  a  memorial  to 
Parliament  were  drawn,  setting  forth  the  grievances  of  the 
Colonies  by  reason  of  recent  Parliamentary  enactments,  which 
were  signed  by  the  members  and  forwarded  for  presentation 
to  the  agents  in  Europe.  The  refusal  of  the  people  to  use 
any  but  American  goods  bore  grievously  upon  British  man- 
ufacturers, and  they  soon  became  clamorous  for  the  repeal 
of  the  odious  Act.  Franklin,  before  a  committee  of  Par- 
liament, testified  to  the  impossibility  of  collecting  such  a 
tax,  and  it  was  finally,  on  the  18th  of  March,  1766,  repealed. 
The  tidings  of  the  repeal  were  received  in  Philadelphia  with 
demonstrations  of  joy,  the  Assembly  dining  with  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  joining  in  a  fete,  in  honor  of  the  event,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Schuylkill. 

Though  yielding  for  the  time  to  the  opposition  of  the  Col- 
onies, the  British  Government  by  no  means  relinquished  the 
idea  of  taxing  America.  Charles  Townsend  had  boasted 
that  he  knew  a  way  to  draw  a  revenue  from  the  Colonies 
without  exciting  opposition,  and  brought  forward,  in  1767, 
an  act  imposing  a  duty  on  tea,  glass,  paper,  and  painter's 
colors,  which  was  triumphantly  carried.  On  the  20th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1768,  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  instructed  its 
agent  in  London  to  urge  the  repeal  of  this  Act,  and  at  the 
session  in  May  a  circular  letter,  received  from  the  Massachu- 


JOHN  PENN.  175 

setts  Assembly,  setting  forth  the  grounds  of  objection  to  the 
Act,  was  received  and  entered  upon  its  minutes.  This  cir- 
cular gave  great  offence  to  the  British  ministry;  and  the  sec- 
retary for  foreign  affairs,  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough,  wrote  to 
Governor  Penn,  to  urge  the  Assembly  to  take  no  notice  of 
it,  but  if  that  body  was  disposed  to  countenance  and  approve 
the  sentiments  it  contained,  to  prorogue  its  sittings.  This 
letter  was  laid  before  the  Assembly  and  read,  and  immediately 
thereafter  the  speaker  presented  one  from  the  Virginia  As- 
sembly, recommending  a  union  of  the  Colonies  in  opposition 
to  the  proposed  measures  of  taxation.  This  recommendation 
was  adopted,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a 
petition  to  the  King,  and  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  ask- 
ing their  repeal.  In  these  documents  complaint  was  particu- 
larly made  against  the  provision  which  made  the  Colonial 
Judges  and  Governors  dependent  for  their  pay  upon  the 
Crown,  instead  of  the  Assemblies.  The  unanimity  of  feeling 
in  the  Assembly  in  opposition  to  these  enactments  was 
strengthened  by  a  series  of  papers  known  as  the  Farmer's 
Letters,  written  by  John  Dickinson.  They  became  very  pop- 
ular, and  were  republished  in  all  the  Colonies.  Apprehend- 
ing that  it  was  the  amount  of  tax,  and  not  the  principle, 
which  was  objected  to,  Parliament,  in  1769,  reduced  it  to 
one-sixth  its  original  amount,  and  in  1770  abolished  the  tax 
altogether  except  three,  pence  a  pound  on  tea.  But  in  this, 
Parliament  entertained  a  mistaken  view,  for  it  was  the  prin- 
ciple that  was  obnoxious ;  and  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania 
instructed  its  agent  in  London  to  urge  the  entire  repeal  of 
the  law,  that  it  might  not  be  a  precedent  for  future  op- 
pression. 

The  authorities  of  Connecticut,  as  has  already  been  stated, 
maintained  that,  by  the  terms  of  its  charter,  the  western 
boundary  of  its  territory  was  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  seem- 
ingly preposterous  claim  was  borne  out  by  the  language  of 
the  original  grant,  which  embraced  the  territory  between  the 
fortieth  and  forty-sixth  degree  of  latitude,  and  from  ocean  to 
ocean ;  and  though  the  boundaries  of  Pennsylvania  were  now 


1 76  PR OPRIETAR Y  GO VERNMENT. 

well  defined,  the  grant  to  the  Plymouth  Colony  ante-dated  it. 
Under  a  vague  apprehension  that  the  rights  conferred  by  the 
original  charter  could  be  maintained,  emigrants  from  Con- 
necticut settled  in  the  Wyoming  Valley,  and  under  a  pur- 
chase made  of  these  lands  from  the  Indians,  at  the  council  held 
at  Albany  in  1754,  a  party  of  Connecticut  people  of  some 
standing  and  influence,  one  of  them  an  ex-Governor,  formed 
a  company,  known  as  the  Susquehanna  Company,  to  settle 
them.  But  these  lands  had  already  been  purchased  of  the 
Indians  by  the  Proprietors  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  their 
name  remonstrances  were  made,  against  the  claims  of  the 
Susquehanna  Company,  to  the  Governor  of  Connecticut  The 
answer  to  the  earliest  of  these  remonstrances  seemed  to  dis- 
own any  responsibility  on  the  part  of  the  government  of  Con- 
necticut in  maintaining  these  claims;  but  it  subsequently 
appeared  that  a  determination  had  been  formed  to  support 
them.  In  1768,  the  Proprietors  of  Pennsylvania  purchased 
of  the  Indians  all  that  tract  of  country  on  which  the  Susque- 
hanna Company  had  settled,  and  laid  out  the  Wyoming  ter- 
ritory into  manors,  upon  which  many  families  received  per- 
mission to  settle.  The  pioneers  of  the  two  States  now  began 
to  come  in  conflict.  Forts  and  block-houses  were  built,  and 
a  petty  warfare  maintained,  which  resulted  in  some  loss  of 
life.  It  was  proposed  by  Butler,  the  leader  of  the  Connecti- 
cut party,  to  settle  the  dispute  by  the  personal  corn  bat  of 
thirty  picked  men  on  each  side ;  but  this  barbarous  offer  was 
declined.  In  the  meantime,  to  bring  the  Territory  more  im- 
mediately under  Pennsylvania  jurisdiction,  a  new  county  was 
organized  out  of  parts  of  the  counties  of  Lancaster,  Cumber- 
land, Berks,  Northampton,  and  Bedford,  covering  the  dis- 
puted ground,  which  was  called  Northumberland;  but  the 
sheriff,  with  the  help  of  the  militia,  which  he  called  to  his 
aid,  was  unable  to  subdue  the  opposing  party,  which  had  a 
justice  and  civil  officers  of  its  own,  and  had  also  set  up  town 
and  county  organizations.  To  the  protestations  of  Governor 
Penn,  Governor  Trumbull  answered  that  the  Susquehanna 
Company  was  acting  in  good  faith  under  a  Connecticut  char- 


JAMES  HAMILTON.  177 

ter,  based  upon  the  original  grant  of  the  Crown  to  the  Ply- 
mouth Colony,  and  that  he  was  desirous  of  having  the  rights 
of  the  two  Colonies  under  their  respective  grants  tested  hy 
due  course  of  law.  Upon  a  statement  made  hy  the  Connect- 
icut party  to  Counsellors  in  London,  an  opinion  was  obtained 
favorable  to  that  Colony,  and,  encouraged  by  this  advice,  a 
new  impulse  was  given  to  emigration  to  the  "Wyoming  coun- 
try by  Connecticut  families.  In  September,  1775,  the  matter 
was  laid  before  the  Continental  Congress,  and  a  committee 
of  that  body,  to  whom  it  was  referred,  decided  in  favor  of 
the  Connecticut  claimants,  giving  to  that  State  a  tract  of  land 
in  Pennsylvania  nearly  as  large  as  the  entire  limits  of  the  for- 
mer. This  decision  was  instantly  rejected  by  the  Assembly 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  it  remained  an  open  question  until  1802, 
when  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  decided  in  favor  of 
Pen  nsylvania,  and  it  was  forever  put  to  rest. 

JAMES  HAMILTON,  President  of  the  Council  —  Early  in 
1771  Governor  Penn  was  called  to  England  by  the  death  of 
his  father,  Richard  Penn,  leaving  the  government  of  the 
Colony  in  the  hands  of  the  Council,  of  which  James  Hamilton 
was  president,  who  thus  for  a  third  time  became  in  effect 
Governor.  The  Council  was  forbidden  by  the  fundamental 
law  to  approve  any  act  of  Assembly,  so  that  no  legislation 
was  had  during  the  period  that  the  Colony  was  without  a 
lieutenant  governor.  James  Hamilton  was  born  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia  in  1710.  He  was  possessed  of  a  large  landed 
estate,  which  gave  him  a  personal  interest  in  advancing  the 
material  welfare  of  the  Colony.  But  in  the  discharge  of  his 
duties,  he  scrupulously  adhered  to  the  instructions  of  the 
Proprietors,  which  brought  him  in  conflict  with  the  popular 
party.  His  several  administrations  were  marked  by  ability 
and  firmness,  and  his  personal  bearing  was  that  of  one  who 
felt  the  dignity  of  his  position,  and  duly  appreciated  the 
respect  which  was  due  to  the  office.  He  never  married.  He 
died  in  the  city  of  New  York  on  the  1 4th  of  August,  1783, 
aged  seventy-three. 

12 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THOMAS   AND   JOHN   PENN,    PROPRIETORS,    1771-1776. 

"pICHARD  PENN,  Lieutenant  Governor,  October,  1771,  to 
-Lu  August,  1773.— On  the  17th  of  October,  1771,  Richard, 
the  second  son  of  the  late  Richard  Penn,  arrived  in  the 
Colony,  bearing  the  commission  of  Lieutenant  Governor. 
Early  in  his  administration  his  attention  was  called  to  the 
encroachments  of  the  Susquehanna  Company,  and  he  con- 
ducted the  negotiations  as  already  detailed  with  singular 
moderation  and  judgment. 

At  a  point  about  six  miles  above  Wyoming,  the  Christian 
Indians  hud  built  up  quite  a  populous  village  called  Wyalu- 
sing.  It  had  a  good  number  of  respectable  log  houses  with 
shingled  roofs  and  glazed  windows;  a  church,  and  school- 
house  ;  besides  numerous  huts  and  cabins  of  less  pretentious 
appearance.  Large  tracts  of  meadow  and  upland  had  been 
cleared  and  enclosed.  The  site  was  pleasant,  and  the  soil 
excellent  for  cultivation.  Governor  Penn  had  promised  that 
no  settlements  should  be  made  within  five  miles  of  their 
lands,  and  they  were  looking  forward  to  a  period  of  prosper- 
ity and  quiet.  These,  with  the  Moravian  Indians,  had,  with 
great  difficulty,  been  preserved  from  the  frenzy  of  the  "Pax- 
ton  Boys,"  and  the  dangers  from  this  source  had  scarcely 
passed,  when  the  encroachments  of  the  Connecticut  adven- 
turers again  excited  alarm.  The  hostile  demonstrations  which 
followed  so  aroused  their  apprehensions,  that,  in  1773,  they 
determined  to  move  in  a  body  to  lands  beyond  the  Ohio  River, 
Abo,  their  representative  before  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly, 
saying,  that,  "  Notwithstanding  their  sincere  and  unshaken 
attachment  to  the  Government  of  the  Province,  as  they  were 

178 


RICHARD  PENN.  179 

not  expert  at  salving  appearances,  they  could  not  but  be 
afraid  that  their  innocence  and  complexion  would  stand  little 
chance  against  the  suspicious  insinuations  that  are,  or  may 
be  conceived,  and  laid  against  them,  from  the  indifferent 
neighborhood  in  which  they  lived.  They  thought  it  high 
time,  therefore,  that  they  should  retire  to  some  Indian 
country." 

The  administration  of  Richard  Penn  only  extended  to  a 
period  of  a  little  less  than  two  years.  His  intercourse  with 
the  Assembly  was  of  a  kind  and  conciliatory  character,  in 
marked  contrast  with  the  intemperate  contests  maintained 
with  that  body  by  some  of  his  predecessors.  Differences 
arose ;  but  they  were  discussed  in  a  mild  and  manly  way,  and 
mutual  concessions  brought  harmony.  He  was  especially 
attentive  to  the  commercial  interests  of  the  Colony,  and 
during  his  administration  a  degree  of  unexampled  prosperity 
prevailed.  His  commission  was  unexpectedly  revoked  in 
August,  1773,  much  to  the  regret  of  the  people  of  the  Colony 
and  to  himself. 

Richard  Penn  was  born  in  England,  in  1734.  He  married 
Miss  Polly  Masters,  of  Philadelphia.  In  person,  he  was  of 
portly  and  commanding  presence,  of  genial  temper,  a  good 
liver,  and  inclined  to  sociality.  Of  all  the  Deputy  Governors 
he  was  best  fitted  by  nature  and  by  education  to  win  the 
approval  of  the  popular  will.  On  being  superseded  as 
Governor,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Council  and  Naval 
Officer  of  the  Colony.  He  was  intimate  with  the  members  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  whose  confidence  and  esteem  he 
gained  by  his  liberal  views,  and  when,  in  1775,  he  returned 
to  England,  he  was  intrusted,  in  connection  with  Arthur  Lee, 
with  the  last  petition  from  the  Colonies  ever  presented  to 
the  King.  He  was  examined  respecting  American  affairs  at 
the  bar  of  the  House  of  Lords,  ancl  gave  testimony  so  favor- 
able to  the  Colonial  cause,  that  he  incurred  the  displeasure 
of  the  Peers,  and  drew  forth  a  strong  rebuke  from  the  Min- 
isters, Lord  Lyttleton  declaring,  "  With  all  the  caution  with 
which  Mr.  Penn  guarded  his  expressions,  he  nevertheless 


1 80  PR OPRIETAR Y  GO VERNMEh T. 

betrayed  through  the  whole  of  his  examination  the  indica- 
tion of  the  strongest  prejudice."  He  died  on  the  27th  of 
May,  1811,  aged  sixty-seven. 

JOHN  PENH",  Deputy  Governor,  August,  1773  to  1770. 
Upon  the  return  of  John  Penn  to  the  Province,  after  an 
absence  of  two  years,  he  superseded  his  brother  Richard  in 
the  gubernatorial  powers.  His  attention  was  early  directed 
to  the  dangers  of  Indian  hostilities  on  the  "Western  border. 
Incited  by  a  robbery  said  to  have  been  committed  by  the 
savages,  two  daring  frontiersmen,  Cresap  and  Greathouse,  had 
taken  upon  themselves  to  inflict  punishment,  and  at  the  head 
of  their  clansmen  had  fellen  upon  hunting  parties  of  the  na- 
tives, striking  down  without  mercy  men,  women,  and  children. 
Among  these  fell  the  family  of  Logan,  a  chief,  renowned  for 
his  spirit  and  native  eloquence.  Governor  Penn,  on  being 
apprised  of  these  horrors,  dispatched  messengers  to  the  tribes 
affected,  disclaiming  all  responsibility  for  these  lawless  acts,  and 
promising  to  bring  the  perpetrators  to  justice.  This  prompt 
action  of  the  Governor  had  the  effect  to  atert  hostilities. 

At  about  this  time,  Lord  Dunmore,  Governor  of  Virginia, 
issued  his  proclamation  laying  claim  to  a  large  tract  of 
territory  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  in  the  name  of  the  King, 
including  Pittsburg  and  the  Monongahela  Valley.  Many  of 
the  Virginia  Colony  had  settled  upon  these  lands,  claiming  the 
protection  of  the  Governor  of  that  Colony.  Some  time  previous 
the  British  troops,  occupying  Fort  Pitt,  had  been  withdrawn, 
and  now  one  Connolly  had  taken  possession  of  it  in  the  name 
of  Dunmore.  Governor  Penn  promptly  called  to  his  aid  Sir 
William  Johnson  in  quieting  the  Six  Nations,  and  himself 
issued  a  counter-proclamation  requiring  settlers  within  the 
limits  of  Pennsylvania  to  preserve  their  allegiance  to  his 
rightful  authority,  and  summarily  arrested  and  imprisoned 
Connolly.  He  also  sent  two  agents  to  Williamsburg  to  re- 
monstrate with  the  Virginia  Government  upon  the  unwar- 
rantable pretensions  of  the  Governor.  Dunmore  refused  to 
near  them,  and  was  preparing  to  assert  his  authority  by 


JOHN  PENN.  181 

force;  but  hie  Council,  better  instructed  than  himself  in  the 
rights  of  the  two  Colonies,  refused  to  give  him  money  for 
raising  and  arming  troops,  and  his  ill  advised  scheme  of 
conquest  was  abandoned. 

The  non-importation  agreements  of  the  Colonies  seriously 
affected  the  interests  of  the  great  East  India  Tea  Company, 
their  expenditures  having  been  great,  and  their  profits  now 
seriously  impaired.  Upon  application  to  Parliament  for  re- 
lief, the  export  duty  was  removed,  and  the  Company  was  en- 
couraged to  ship  freely  to  all  the  Colonies.  News  of  this 
action  created  much  excitement  throughout  America.  Meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  capitals  and  chief  towns,  to  oppose  the 
sale  of  the  tea,  as  the  deliberate  purpose  of  Parliament  to  es- 
tablish the  principle  of  taxation  was  seen  in  this  act.  At  a 
meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  on  the  18th  of  October,  1773, 
spirited  resolutions  were  passed,  in  which  it  was  asserted, 
"  That  the  disposal  of  their  own  property  is  the  inherent 
right  of  freemen  ;  that  there  can  be  no  property  in  that  which 
another  can,  of  right,  take  from  us  without  our  consent;  that 
the  claim  of  Parliament  to  tax  America,  is,  in  other  words,  a 

claim  of  right  to  levy  contributions  on  us  at  pleasure 

That  whoever  shall  directly  or  indirectly  countenance  this 
attempt,  or  in  any  wise  aid  and  abet,  in  unloading,  receiving, 
or  vending  the  tea  sent,  or  to  be  sent  out,  by  the  East  India 
Company,  while  it  remains  subject  to  the  payment  of  a  duty 
here,  is  an  enemy  to  his  country."  Of  the  ships  dispatched, 
those  destined  for  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  on  approach- 
ing these  ports  and  learning  the  temper  of  the  people,  wisely 
turned  back,  and  returned  to  England.  That  sent  to  Char- 
leston was  unladen,  and  the  tea  stored  in  a  damp  warehouse 
where  it  rotted ;  and  the  vessels  sent  to  Boston  were  boarded 
by  parties  disguised  as  Indians,  who  opened  over  three  hun- 
dred chests  and  poured  the  tea  into  the  water,  proclaiming 
"  Boston  harbor  a  tea-pot  to-night."  This  unanimity  of  feel- 
ing and  action  was  secured  through  committees  of  corre- 
spondence, appointed  earlier  in  the  year.  The  conduct  of  the 
Colonies  exasperated  the  Ministry,  and  as  the  inhabitants  of 


182  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

Boston  had  committed  an  overt  act,  its  vengeance  was  directed 
against  them.  Their  port  was  closed,  the  Colonial  charter 
was  in  effect  subverted,  and  persons  guilty  of  capital  offences 
could  be  transported  to  England  for  trial. 

The  harsh  measures  adopted  towards  the  Massachusetts 
Colony,  and  especially  towards  the  town  of  Boston,  excited 
deep  sympathy  in  all  the  Colonies.  A  public  meeting  was 
held  in  Philadelphia,  at  which  an  address  to  the  sufferers  by 
these  severe  measures  was  adopted,  in  which  was  recom- 
mended the  calling  of  a  congress  of  deputies  from  all  the 
Colonies,  where  means  should  be  devised  for  restoring 
harmony,  and  promising,  that  "  the  people  of  Pennsylvania 
would  continue  firmly  to  adhere  to  the  cause  of  Amerk  an 
liberty." 

On  the  18th  of  June,  1774,  the  Governor  having  refused 
to  convene  the  Assembly  to  consider  this  question,  another 
public  meeting  was  called,  at  which  nearly  eight  thousand 
people  were  present,  and  John  Dickinson  and  Thomas  Will- 
ing presided.  At  this  meeting  it  was  declared  by  resolution, 
that  it  was  expedient  to  convene  a  Continental  Congress,  and 
a  committee  of  correspondence  was  appointed  to  open  com- 
munication with  similar  committees  in  the  several  counties 
and  in  other  colonies,  and  provision  was  made  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  deputies  to  the  proposed  Congress.  This  com- 
mittee of  correspondence  summoned  delegates  from  all  the 
counties  to  represent  the  Colony  in  a  general  conference 
which  was  held  on  the  15th  of  July,  1774,  over  which  Thomas 
Willing  presided,  and  Charles  Thomson  acted  as  Secretary. 
In  this  conference  it  was  resolved,  first  of  all,  that  their  al- 
legiance was  due  to  George  III.,  that  they  desired  the  restitu- 
tion of  the  ancient  harmony  with  the  mother  country,  and 
that  there  was  an  absolute  necessity  for  a  Colonial  Congi  ess. 
The  members  of  this  conference,  feeling  that  they  were  the 
last  and  immediate  representatives  of  the  people,  issued  in- 
structions to  the  Assembly,  and  recommended  that  suitable 
delegates  should  be  appointed  to  the  general  Congress.  These 
instructions  were  drawn  by  John  Dickinson,  and  were  con- 


JOHN  PENN.  183 

ceived  in  a  spirit  of  calm  justice  and  reason.  They  \vere 
adopted  by  the  Colonial  Assembly,  and  Joseph  Galloway, 
speaker,  Samuel  Rhoads,  Thomas  Mifflin,  Charles  Hum- 
phries, George  Ross,  Edward  Biddle,  and  John  Dickinson, 
in  compliance  with  the  recommendation  of  the  conference, 
were  appointed  delegates. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1774,  the  first  Continental  Con- 
gress —  that  body  which  became  so  famous,  and  whose  de- 
liberations resulted  in  such  far-reaching  consequences  —  as- 
sembled at  Philadelphia.  Peyton  Randolph,  of  Virginia, 
was  elected  president,  and  Charles  Thomson  secretary.  The 
Acts  of  Parliament  oppressive  to  the  people  of  Massachu- 
setts and  the  town  of  Boston  were  condemned,  and  it  was 
declared  "  that  no  obedience  was  due  from  that  Province  to 
such  Acts,  but  that  they  should  be  rejected  as  the  attempts 
of  a  wicked  administration."  It  was  also  resolved  that  no 
more  goods  be  imported  from  England,  and  that  after  the 
10th  of  September,  1775,  the  Colonies  cease  to  export  the 
products  of  the  soil  unless  a  pacification  be  secured.  The 
provisions  of  the  resolutions  thus  adopted  were  as  sacredly 
observed  throughout  the  Colonies  as  would  have  been  the 
most  binding  enactments.  Committees  of  correspondence 
were  appointed  in  every  colony,  through  which  the  central 
power  was  administered.  A  declaration  of  rights,  based  upon 
the  instructions  of  the  Pennsylvania  convention  to  the  As- 
sembly, was  adopted ;  also  an  address  to  the  people  of  Great 
Britain,  one  to  the  people  of  British  America,  and  another  to 
the  King,  after  which  the  Congress  adjourned,  having  recom- 
mended that  another  session  be  held  in  Philadelphia  on 
the  10th  of  the  next  May. 

The  recommendations  of  Congress  were  approved  by  the 
Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Messrs.  Biddle,  Dickinson, 
Mifilin,  Humphries,  Morton,  and  Ross  were  appointed  dele- 
gates for  a  second  meeting  of  that  body,  and,  subsequently, 
upon  the  return  of  Franklin  from  London,  he  was  added  to 
the  delegation,  with  James  Wilson  and  Thomas  Willing. 
Without  manifesting  partisan  zeal.  Governor  Penn  was 


184  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

believed  to  sympathize  with  the  Colonies,  though  in  his  mes- 
sage to  the  Assembly  at  this  time  he  mildly  remonstrated 
against  the  system  of  Congressional  rather  than  Colonial  ac- 
tion. The  King,  on  the  receipt  of  the  loyal  address  of  Con- 
gress, was  disposed  to  regard  it  as  proper  and  kindly ;  but 
the  Ministry  had  resolved  upon  forcing  submission,  though 
remonstrated  against  by  the  merchants  and  business  men  of 
all  the  principal  towns  as  ruinous  to  their  interests. 

A  second  Provincial  convention  was  held  in  Philadelphia 
towards  the  close  of  January,  of  which  Joseph  Reed  was 
President.  The  action  of  Congress  was  approved  by  this 
body  also,  and  it  was  resolved  that  the  county  committees  of 
superintendence  should  aid  each  other  in  every  way  possible; 
that  the  restoration  of  harmony  was  earnestly  desired;  that 
the  commercial  non-intercourse  resolves  should  be  scrupu- 
lously adhered  to;  but  concluded,  "that,  should  the  humble 
and  loyal  petition  of  Congress  to  his  Majesty  be  disregarded, 
and  the  British  Ministry,  instead  of  redressing  their  griev- 
ances, determine  by  force  to  effect  submission  to  the  late 
arbitrary  acts  of  Parliament,  they  deemed  it  their  indispen- 
sable duty  to  resist  such  force,  and  at  every  hazard  to  defend 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  America." 

On  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Lex- 
ington, the  first  blood  spilled  in  the  Revolution.  By  this, 
the  opening  act  of  the  drama,  was  plainly  manifested  the 
determination  of  the  Ministry  to  force  the  Colonies  to  sub- 
jection. It  created  intense  excitement  throughout  all  the 
Colonies.  A  meeting  of  citizens  was  convened  in  Philadel- 
phia, at  which  thousands  were  present,  and  a  resolution 
adopted  to  form  a  military  association,  under  the  direction 
of  the  committee  of  correspondence  for  defence.  The  asso- 
ciation was  extended  through  all  the  counties,  and  the  organ- 
ization of  militia  was  prosecuted  with  much  spirit.  The 
Assembly  approved  of  this  popular  demonstration,  and  en- 
gaged to  provide  for  the  pay  of  the  militia  while  in  service. 
The  second  Congress,  which  met  in  May,  resolved  to  organ- 
ize an  army  for  defence,  the  number  to  be  raised  in  Pennsyl- 


JOHN  PENN.  185 

yania  being  four  thousand  three  hundred  men.  The  Assem- 
bly entered  heartily  into  this  measure  and  recommended  to 
the  Commissioners  of  the  several  counties  to  provide  arms 
and  accoutrements  for  this  force,  advised  the  organization  of 
minute-men  trained  to  seize  their  arms  at  the  instant  of  dan- 
ger and  fly  to  the  rescue,  made  further  appropriations  for  the 
defence  of  the  city,  and,  to  encourage  its  manufacture,  offered 
a  premium  for  saltpetre.  The  Assembly  also  appointed  a 
committee  of  public  safety,  empowered  to  call  the  troops  into 
service  and  provide  for  their  pay,  and  resolved  that  all  per- 
sons between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  fifty,  who  did  not  asso- 
ciate for  the  defence  of  the  Colony,  ought  to  pay  an  equiv- 
alent for  the  time  spent  by  the  associators  in  acquiring 
military  discipline.  On  the  10th  of  May  Ticonderoga  was 
captured,  and  on  the  17th  of  June  the  famous  battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill  was  fought.  Two  days  before  this,  George  Washing- 
ton was  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  American 
armies.  Four  Major-Generals  and  eight  Brigadier-Generals 
were  also  appointed. 

Congress,  soon  after  meeting  in  May,  recommended  "  to 
the  respective  Assemblies  and  Conventions  of  the  United 
Colonies,  where  no  government  sufficient  to  the  exigencies 
of  their  affairs  has  been  hitherto  established,  to  adopt  such 
government  as  shall,  in  the  opinions  of  the  representatives 
of  the  people,  best  conduce  to  the  happiness  and  safety  of 
their  constituents  in  particular,  and  America  in  general." 
This  was,  in  fact,  dispensing  with  the  royal  Governors,  and 
such  Assemblies  as  did  not  act  with  the  party  opposing  the 
Crown. 

A  few  days  after  this  recommendation  was  made,  a  public 
meeting  was  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  which  it  was  resolved 
that  the  present  Assembly  of  the  Colony  is  "  not  competent 
to  the  exigencies  of  affairs,"  and  that  a  Provincial  Convention 
ought  to  be  called  for  inaugurating  a  form  of  Colonial  gov- 
ernment, in  compliance  with  the  recommendation  of  Con- 
gress. The  committee  of  inspection  for  the  city,  accordingly, 
called  on  the  committees  of  the  counties  to  send  delegates  to 


186  PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 

a  conference  for  this  purpose,  and  on  the  18th  of  June,  1776, 
the  delegates  assembled  in  Philadelphia  and  elected  Thomas 
McKean  president,  provided  for  holding  a  convention  of  del- 
egates, eight  in  number  from  each  county,  to  frame  a  consti- 
tution and  inaugurate  a  new  government  suited  to  the  present 
condition  of  the  Colony,  fixed  the  qualifications  of  voters, 
prescribed  the  form  of  oath  to  be  administered  to  electors 
and  delegates,  apportioned  the  counties  into  election  districts, 
appointed  the  election  judges,  and  issued  a  brief,  but  patriotic 
and  persuasive  address  to  the  people. 

The  idea  of  a  formal  declaration  of  independence  by  Con- 
gress was  now  freely  canvassed.  The  Assembly  of  Virginia, 
on  the  15th  of  May,  had  recommended  it.  The  Assembly  -)f 
Pennsylvania  was  reluctant  to  sever  the  bonds  of  union  with 
the  parent  State,  but  instructed  its  delegates,  on  the  14th  of 
June,  to  unite  with  the  other  Colonies  in  legislating  for  the 
common  good,  only  reserving  the  right  to  regulate  its  own 
internal  affairs,  and,  in  conclusion,  made  this  frank  declara- 
tion :  "  The  happiness  of  these  Colonies  has,  during  the  whole 
course  of  this  fatal  controversy,  been  our  first  wish,  their 
reconciliation  with  Great  Britain  our  next.  Ardently  have 
we  prayed  for  the  accomplishment  of  both.  But  if  we  re- 
nounce the  one  or  the  other,  we  humbly  trust  in  the  mercies 
of  the  Supreme  Governor  of  the  Universe,  that  we  shall 
not  stand  condemned  before  His  throne  if  our  choice  is  de- 
termined by  that  overruling  law  of  self-preservation  which 
His  divine  wisdom  has  thought  proper  to  implant  in  the 
hearts  of  His  creatures."  The  Conference,  which  had  pro- 
vided for  a  constitutional  convention,  approved  the  idea  of 
declaring  independence,  and  authorized  the  raising  of  six 
thousand  militia.  The  Assembly  had  been  prevented  from 
legislating  to  the  same  effect  by  the  continued  absence  of  its 
members. 

On  the  7th  of  June,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia, 
seconded  by  John  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  brought  forward 
in  Congress  the  proposition,  that  the  "  United  Colonies  are, 
and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States,  and 


JOHN  PENN.  187 

that  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State  of 
Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved."  It  was 
debated  most  ardently  and  eloquently,  John  Dickinson,  of 
Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  ablest  and  purest  of  the  patriots, 
opposing,  for  the  time,  its  passage,  urging,  as  an  objection, 
the  disorganized  condition  in  which  the  Colonies  would  be 
left  if  the  British  protection  and  power  were  removed,  Prov- 
ince being  left  to  rise  against  Province,  and  city  against  city. 
The  proposition  was  passed  upon,  on  the  2d  of  July,  the  votes 
of  all  being  in  favor  of  its  adoption  except  Pennsylvania  and 
Delaware,  the  votes  of  the  delegates  from  these  States  being 
divided.  In  the  meantime,  a  committee  of  five,  consisting 
of  Jefferson,  Adams,  Franklin,  Sherman,  and  Livingston, 
had  been  appointed  to  draw  up  a  more  formal  instrument. 
Jeiferson  and  Adams  were  appointed  as  a  sub-committee  to 
make  the  draft;  and  the  immortal  instrument,  drawn  by  the 
hand  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  was  reported  on  the  28th  of  June, 
and,  after  a  sharp  debate,  was  finally  adopted  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1776.  From  Pennsylvania,  Franklin,  Wilson,  and  Mor- 
ton voted  for  it,  "Willing  and  Humphrey  against  it,  Dickinson 
being  absent.  The  Pennsylvania  convention  being  informed 
that  a  majority  of  its  delegates  in  Congress  had  voted  against 
the  preliminary  declaration,  named  a  new  delegation  on  the 
20th,  omitting  Dickinson,  Willing,  and  Humphrey,  reappoint- 
ing  the  three  who  had  voted  for  the  declaration,  Morris,  who 
had  been  absent,  and  appointing  five  new  members,  Rush, 
Clymer,  Smith,  Taylor,  and  Ross.  The  engrossed  copy  which 
was  subsequently  made  was  signed  by  them.* 

The  Convention  for  framing  a  new  constitution  for  the 
Colony,  assembled  in  Philadelphia  on  the  15th  of  July,  and 
elected  Franklin  President.  Its  fi.rst  act  was  to  provide  for 
the  opening  its  deliberations  by  the  performance  of  divine 
service.  This  Convention,  in  addition  to  the  specific  duty  of 
framing  a  constitution  for  which  it  was  elected,  at  once  took 
upon -itself  the  entire  government  of  the  Colony.  The  new 

*  Letter  of  Jeflerson  to  S.  A.  Wells,  1819.  —  Randall's  Life  of  Jeflerson,  Vol.  L 
p.  171. 


188  PR OPRIETAR Y  GO VERNMENT. 

Constitution  was  completed  on  the  28th  of  September,  and, 
after  being  signed  by  the  President  and  all  the  members,  was 
intrusted  to  the  hands  of  the  Council  of  Safety,  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  new  General  Assembly  at  its  first  session,  and 
immediately  after  having  chosen  a  speaker.  The  old  Assem- 
bly adjourned  on  the  14th  of  June  to  the  26th  of  August.  A 
quorum  failed  to  convene  on  that  day,  and  two  days  after,  an 
adjournment  was  voted  to  the  twenty-third  of  September. 
Little  was  done  at  this  adjourned  session  beyond  approving 
the  report  of  the  committee  on  accounts,  by  which  a  thousand 
pounds  was  voted  for  the  salary  of  the  Governor,  and  an 
aggregate  sum  exceeding  eleven  thousand  pounds  to  the  old 
provincial  officers,  and  remonstrating  against  certain  ordi- 
nances passed  by  the  Convention  as  violations  of  power 
delegated  to  it;  and  on  the  28th  of  September,  this  Assembly, 
which  had  existed  for  nearly  a  century  under  the  organic 
law  of  Penn,  ceased  to  exist,  and  the  Proprietary  Governor 
was  shorn  of  power. 

John  Penn,  eldest  son  of  Richard,  was  born  in  England 
in  1728.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  first  visited  the 
Colony,  and  ten  years  later,  he  came  bearing  the  commission 
of  Deputy  Governor.  The  day  of  his  last  arrival  was  on  Sun- 
day, and  was  marked  by  the  shock  of  an  earthquake,  which 
the  superstitious  interpreted  as  an  evil  omen  to  his  admin- 
istration. It  is  described  as  being  severe,  and  accompanied 
by  a  loud,  roaring  noise,  the  sky  being  clear  with  a  moderate 
wind  from  the  south-west.  At  the  time  of  his  appointment 
as  governor,  his  father  was  proprietor  of  one-third  of  the 
Province,  and  his  uncle,  Thomas,  of  two-thirds ;  the  latter 
having  inherited  the  share  of  John,  the  oldest  of  the  three 
original  Proprietors,  upon  the  occasion  of  his  death  in  1746. 
Upon  the  death  of  Richard,  father  of  the  Governor,  in  1771, 
the  latter  inherited  the  one-third  of  the  Proprietary  interest. 
In  spirit  he  manifested  little  of  the  mild  and  peaceful  dis- 
position of  his  grandfather,  but  believed  in  supporting  the 
authority  of  his  government  by  the  sword.  Especially  was 
he  averse  to  temporizing  with  the  Indians,  and  even  oifered, 


JOHN  PENK  189 

i 

without  scruple,  graduated  bounties  for  their  capture,  scalp- 
ing, or  death.  He  married  Anne  Allen,  daughter  of  William 
Allen,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony.  In  person  he  is  described 
as  of  the  middle  size,  reserved  in  manners,  and  very  near- 
sighted. After  being  virtually  superseded  in  authority  by 
the  Supreme  Executive  Council,  he  seems  to  have  submitted 
gracefully  to  the  progress  of  events,  which  he  found  himself 
unable  to  control,  and  remained  during  the  Revolution  a 
quiet  spectator  of  the  long  struggle,  without  manifesting  any 
particular  interest  in  its  result.  With  other  Crown  and  Pro- 
prietary officers  remaining  in  America,  he  at  several  times 
fell  under  the  suspicion  of  Congress,  and  orders  were  T'ssued 
for  his  arrest  and  removal  to  Hunterdon  County,  New  Jersey, 
and  to  Winchester,  Virginia,  but  he  seems  to  have  been  soon 
released  on  parole.  He  continued  to  live  at  his  home  in 
Bucks  County,  after  the  Revolution,  where  he  died  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1795,  aged  sixty-seven.  From  his  grave  in  Christ's 
Church-yard,  where  he  was  buried,  his  remains  were  sub- 
sequently transferred  for  interment  to  England. 


PART   III. 
PRESIDENTS 

OF    THE 

SUPREME  EXECUTIVE  COUNCIL, 


THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR., 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE   SUPREME   EXECUTIVE   COUNCIL. 

March  5,  1777,  to  May  23,  1778. 


Provincial  Convention  which  had  been  elected  to 
-*-  frame  a  new.Constitution,  and  which,  upon  meeting  on 
the  15th  of  July,  1776,  assumed  the  entire  government  of  the 
Colony,  elected,  on  the  24d  of  the  same  month,  a  Council  of 
Safety,  composed  of  twenty-five  members,  to  which  was  com- 
mitted the  executive  department  of  the  Government  until  the 
new  frame  of  the  constitution  about  to  be  promulgated  should 
be  put  in  operation.  This  Council  was  organized  by  the  se- 
lection of  Thomas  Rittenhouse  as  chairman,  and  Jacob  S. 
Howell,  Secretary.  By  this  action  the  Proprietary  Govern- 
ment was  completely  superseded,  and  the  title  of  the  Propri- 
etors to  landed  estate  in  Pennsylvania  was  suspended.  An  es- 
timate commenced  by  Thomas  Penn,  and  completed  by  Frank- 
lin, in  1759,  made  the  value  of  this  estate  about  ten  millions 
of  pounds  sterling.  It  should  here  be  observed  that  the  Legis- 
lature of  Pennsylvania,  on  the  27th  of  November,  1779,  passed 
an  Act  for  vesting  the  estate  of  the  Proprietors  in  the  Common- 
wealth, but  reserving  to  the  Proprietors  all  their  private  es- 
tates, including  the  tenths  of  manors,  and  paying  to  them  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  pounds  sterling  "  in 
remembrance  of  the  enterprising  spirit  of  the  Founder,"  and 
"  of  the  expectations  and  dependence  of  his  descendants."  In 
addition  to  this,  Parliament,  in  1790,  granted  an  annuity  of 
four  thousand  pounds  per  annum  to  the  heirs  and  descendants 
of  the  Founder,  "  in  consideration  of  the  meritorious  services 
of  the  said  William  Penn,  and  of  the  losses  which  his  family 
have  sustained."  This  annuity  has  ever  since  been  regularly 
13  193 


194      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

paid,  and  in  a  reference  made  to  it  a  short  time  ago  [1872]. 
in  the  House  of  Commons,  Chancellor  Lowe  stated  that  the 
pension  would  not  be  discontinued. 

On  the  6th  of  August,  a  formal  organization  of  the  Council 
of  Safety  was  effected,  when  Thomas  Wharton,  Jr.,  was  elected 
Presicient.  On  the  28th  of  September,  the  new  constitution 
was  completed  and  passed  unanimously,  taking  effect  from 
the  date  of  its  passage.  It  provided  for  an  annual  Assembly 
and  for  a  Supreme  Executive  Council,  to  consist  of  twelve 
persons  to  be  chosen  by  the  people,  and  to  hold  office  for 
three  years.  Members  of  Congress  were  to  be  appointed  by 
the  Assembly.  Assembly  men  were  eligible  to  membership 
but  four  years  out  of  seven,  and  members  of  Council  but  one 
term  in  seven  years.  The  Constitution  could  not  be  changed 
for  the  space  of  seven  years.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time 
censors  were  to  be  elected,  who  were  to  consider  whether  a 
revision  was  demanded,  and  if  so,  they  were  to  call  a  conven- 
tion for  the  purpose.  The  Council  was  charged  with  the  due 
execution  of  the  laws,  its  powers  being  not  materially  differ- 
ent from  those  of  the  Council  under  the  Proprietary  Govern- 
ment. From  the  first,  this  instrument  met  with  violent 
opposition. 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  1776,  "Washington  unfurled 
over  his  camp,  at  Cambridge,  for  "the  first  time,  the  Union 
Flag.  It  had  thirteen  stripes  of  alternate  red  and  white, 
with  the  cross  of  St.  George  in  the  upper  left-hand  corner. 
For  this  cross  Congress  ordered,  on  the  14th  of  June,  1777, 
thirteen  white  stars  in  a  field  of  blue  to  be  substituted, 
and  this  design  became  the  emblem  of  nationality.  The 
Continental  Congress,  before  the  close  of  the  year  1775,  had 
agreed  upon  certain  articles  of  war,  declared  the  cause  for 
which  arms  had  been  taken  up,  and  had  issued  bills  of  credit 
for  prosecuting  the  war  to  the  amount  of  six  millions  of 
dollars.  The  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  had,  on  the  other 
hand,  declared  the  Colonists  rebels;  had  authorized  the  seizure 
or  destruction  of  American  vessels ;  had  voted  a  force  of 
fifty-five  thousand  men  for  compelling  obedience  to  its  man- 


THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR.  195 

dates  in  America,  with  over  a  million  of  dollars  for  their  pay; 
and  had,  in  addition  to  these,  hired  from  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse  -  Cassel,  and  other  German  rulers,  seventeen  thousand 
men,  agreeing  in  their  absence  to  defend  these  States,  and 
paying  for  them  over  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars.  All 
this  was  done  while  yet  the  Americans  were  supplicating  for 
terms  of  reconciliation  in  the  most  respectful  and  earnest 
tones.  These  acts,  however,  had  the  effect  to  convince  all 
thinking  men,  that  there  was  but  one  alternative,  either  a 
slavish  submission  or  a  bitter  and  wasting  struggle. 

Washington,  who,  from  the  moment  of  taking  command, 
had  been  busy  in  organizing  and  gathering  in  his  forces,  de- 
termined to  drive  the  enemy  from  Boston.  To  this  end  he 
sent  forces  under  General  Thomas,  under  cover  of  darkness, 
on  the  night  of  March  4th,  1776,  to  a  commanding  position 
on  Dorchester  Heights,  where,  by  morning,  they  had  thrown 
up  considerable  works,  and  were  prepared  to  open  upon  the 
city  and  the  shipping  in  the  harbor.  All  efforts  to  dislodge 
this  force  proved  futile,  and,  seeing  that  destruction  or  capture 
awaited  him,  General  Howe,  the  commander  of  the  British 
troops,  sought  terms  of  capitulation.  Upon  tacit  condition 
that  he  would  leave  the  city  unharmed,  he  was  allowed  to 
depart  without  injury;  and  on  the  17th  of  March,  eleven 
thousand  soldiers  and  sailors,  and  a  number  of  Loyalist 
families,  sailed  away  to  Halifax. 

Washington,  having  been  apprised  early  in  the  year  that 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  had  sailed  from  Boston  on  a  secret  expe- 
dition, presumed  its  destination  to  be  New  York,  and  accord- 
ingly sent  General  Charles  Lee  thither  to  defend  it.  Clinton 
arrived  off  Sandy  Hook  in  March,  but  finding  Lee  in  posses- 
sion of  the  city,  withdrew,  and  being  joined  some  time  after- 
wards by  Admiral  Sir  Peter  Parker,  proceeded  South  for  the 
reduction  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina;  and  on  the  28th  of 
June  opened  a  combined  land  and  naval  attack  upon  the 
defences  on  Sullivan's  Island,  commanding  the  entrance  to 
the  hart  or.  He  was  met  by  the  Carolina  militia  under  Gen- 
eral Wi  .liam  Moultrie,  which  had  thrown  up  a  breast- work 


196      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

of  palmetto  logs  and  sand,  and  had  twenty-six  pieces  of 
artillery  mounted.  For  ten  hours  the  battle  raged  with  great 
violence.  The  Provincials  stood  manfully  to  their  guns, 
doing  terrible  execution  upon  the  British  fleet.  At  nightfall 
the  action  ceased,  and  Clinton,  finding  his  forces  decimated 
and  his  little  armada  terribly  shattered,  decided  to  withdraw 
from  the  contest,  and  returned  to  New  York. 

Taught  by  this  unfortunate  experience,  the  British  com- 
mander determined  to  concentrate  all  his  forces,  and  strike 
with  overwhelming  power.  General  Howe,  who  had  gone 
from  Boston  to  Halifax,  returned  early  in  July,  and  proceeded 
directly  to  New  York.  Here  he  was  joined  by  Clinton  with 
the  remnant  of  his  army  from  before  Charleston,  and  by 
Admiral  Lord  Howe  with  a  large  fleet  directly  from  Eng- 
land. To  this  powerful  combination,  "Washington  had  no 
adequate  forces  to  oppose,  and  the  events  which  followed 
were  most  unfortunate  for  the  American  arms.  Driven  from 
Long  Island,  from  Harlem,  from  White  Plains,  Washington, 
at  length,  determined  to  withdraw  in  the  direction  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  was  closely  pursued  by  Cornwallis  with  a  heavy 
detachment  of  the  British  army,  causing  him  to  abandon,  in 
succession,  Newark,  New  Brunswick,  Princeton,  and  Trenton, 
and  finally  to  cross  to  the  west  bank  of  the  Delaware  to  Penn- 
sylvania soil.  Cornwallis  would  have  pushed  forward  vigor- 
ously, and  constructed  boats  for  crossing  the  river  in  pursuit; 
but  Howe  ordered  a  cautious  policy,  directing  Cornwallis  to 
wait  until  the  ice  should  be  frozen  sufficiently  upon  the  river 
to  bear  the  troops  and  trains.  The  approach  of  a  hostile  army 
to  the  banks  of  the  Delaware  created  consternation  in  Phila- 
delphia. In  the  Council  of  Safety,  on  the  30th  of  November, 
the  following  order  was  issued:  "  It  is  no  less  necessary  than 
painful,  that  the  present  movements  of  General  Howe's  army 
requires  that  we  should  apprise  the  inhabitants  of  this  city 
who  wish  to  avoid  the  insults  and  oppressions  of  a  licentious 
soldiery,  that  they  prepare  for  removing  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, and  valuable  effects,  on  a  short  warning  to  some  place 
of  security."  On  the  2d  of  September  the  Council  ordered  all 


THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR.  197 

shops  in  the  city  to  be  closed,  and  the  schools  to  be  broken 
up,  and  by  the  10th,  General  Cadwalader,  with  a  brigade  of 
twelve  hundred  men,  was  on  his  way  to  join  "Washington's 
army.  Congress  now  became  thoroughly  alarmed,  and  on 
the  12th,  after  having  invested  Washington  with  dictatorial 
powers,  adjourned  to  meet  at  Baltimore,  taking  with  them  all 
the  public  papers,  but  leaving  a  committee  behind,  of  which 
Robert  Morris  was  chairman,  to  act  in  concert  with  the  army 
for  the  defence  of  the  city.  On  the  same  day  Washington 
dispatched  General  Putnam,  clothed  with  absolute  power,  to 
take  command  in  the  city. 

The  want  of  troops  rendered  the  American  commander 
powerless  to  oppose  the  advancing  foe.  In  this  alarming 
posture  of  affairs,  the  Council  of  Safety  issued  a  stirring 
address,  calling  upon  all  able-bodied  men  to  come  to  the 
rescue.  "  If  you  wish,"  say  they,  "  to  live  in  freedom,  and 
are  determined  to  maintain  that  best  boon  of  heaven,  you 
have  no  time  to  deliberate.  A  manly  resistance  will  secure 
every  blessing ;  inactivity  and  sloth  will  bring  horror  and 
destruction.  .  .  .  Shall  we,  with  Heaven  and  justice  on  our 
side,  (unless  we  could  impiously  suppose  that  the  Almighty 
had  devoted  mankind  to  slavery,)  shall  we  hesitate  to  meet 
our  enemies  in  the  hostile  field?  .  .  .  May  Heaven,  which  has 
bestowed  the  blessings  of  liberty  upon  you,  awaken  you  to  a 
proper  sense  of  your  danger,  and  arouse  that  manly  spirit  of 
virtuous  resolution  which  has  ever  bidden  defiance  to  the 
efforts  of  tyranny.  May  you  ever  have  the  glorious  prize 
of  liberty  in  view,  and  bear  with  a  becoming  fortitude  the 
fatigues  and  severities  of  a  winter  campaign.  That,  and  that 
only,  will  entitle  you  to  the  superlative  distinction  of  being 
deemed,  under  God,  the  deliverers  of  your  country." 

The  frequent  reverses  of  the  American  arms,  and  the 
repeated  retreats  before  a  victorious  foe,  had  caused  great 
depression  in  the  public  mind.  Washington  felt  deeply  the 
humiliation,  and  sought  earnestly  for  an  opportunity  to  strike 
a  blow  that  should  revive  confidence  in  the  patriot  cause. 
A  detach  ment  of  Hessian  troops  had  been  posted  at  Trenton. 


198      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL.      * 

while  the  main  body  of  the  enemy,  under  Cornwall  ;s,  was  at 
Princeton.  Christmas-time  was  approaching.  Believing  that 
the  Hessian  hirelings  would  celebrate  this  festival  by  long 
potations,  Washington  formed  the  purpose  of  assuming  the 
offensive,  and,  crossing  the  Delaware,  of  falling  suddenly 
upon  the  enemy  resting  securely  in  their  cantonments.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  evening  of  the  25th,  taking  a  picked  force 
to  a  point  some  eight  or  ten  miles  above  Trenton,  where  now 
is  located  the  village  of  Taylorsville,  he  succeeded,  though 
the  current  was  strong  and  the  river  filled  with  floating  ice, 
in  crossing  in  flat-boats,  and  in  making  his  way  unperceived 
to  the  neighborhood  of  the  British  encampment.  It  was  al- 
ready sunrise  when  they  arrived,  and  the  Hessian  leader, 
Hall,  was  still  a*  uis  cups,  having  spent  the  night  in  debauch. 
The  struggle  for  the  mastery  was  brief.  Forty  or  fifty  of  the 
enemy  were  killed  or  mortally  wounded,  and  more  than  a 
thousand  were  made  prisoners,  and  marched  away  in  the 
train  of  the  victors;  arms,  ammunition,  and  stores,  captured 
in  considerable  quantities,  swelling  the  triumphal  train.  The 
victory  was,  in  regard  to  numbers  engaged,  insignificant; 
but  it  was  complete  and,  in  its  bearing  upon  the  cause  of  the 
patriots,  momentous.  It  inspired  hope  and  confidence  in 
every  breast,  and  the  daring  and  triumph  of  the  American 
leader  became  the  subject  of  eulogy  in  every  European  court. 
Cadwalader,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Pennsylvania 
troops,  had  been  ordered  to  cross  and  co-operate  with  the 
attacking  column ;  but  was  unable  to  carry  out  his  instruc- 
tions on  account  of  the  force  of  the  current  and  the  power  of 
the  floating  ice.  Three  days  after,  nine  hundred  of  these  pris- 
oners were  marched  through  the  city  of  Philadelphia  on  their 
way  to  the  prison  camp  at  Lancaster,  forming  a  line  on  Front 
Street  two  deep  from  Market  to  Walnut.  Inspired  by  his 
success,  Washington  resumed  the  offensive,  and  moving  all 
his  forces  into  New  Jersey,  prepared  to  face  the  British 
troops ;  but  too  feeble  in  numbers  to  successfully  cope  with 
the  main  body  which  had  approached  Trenton,  eluding  the 
grasp  of  the  confident  foe,  he,  by  a  night  march,  descended 


THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR.  199 

upon  the  British  reserves  at  Princeton,  and  fought  them  with 
sturdy  valor;  but  Cornwallis'  warned  by  the  booming  of  can- 
non of  their  peril,  and  grown  vigilant  since  the  late  disaster, 
hastened  to  their  relief,  compelling  Washington  to  withdraw. 
The  activity  and  enterprise  of  the  Americans  frightened,  the 
enemy  into  the  adoption  of  the  most  cautious  policy,  causing 
him  to  call  in  and  confine  his  troops  to  their  encampments 
upon  the  Raritan ;  while  Washington,  with  his  main  body, 
encamped  at  Morristown,  and  sent  out  detachments  in  all 
directions  to  keep  the  country  clear,  and  pick  up  stragglers 
and  deserters. 

This  active  winter  campaign  had  the  effect  to  relieve 
Pennsylvania,  and  enabled  Congress,  which  had  assembled 
in  Baltimore  on  the  20th  of  December,  to  return  again  to 
Philadelphia.  General  Putnam,  who  had  been  invested  with 
authority,  had  ordered  fortifications  to  be  commenced  at  Red 
Bank,  on  the  Delaware,  and  at  various  points  about  the  city, 
using  for'  the  purpose  the  timber  upon  the  Proprietors'  lands 
in  the  neighborhood.  Upon  the  retreat  of  the  enemy  through 
New  Jersey,  Putnam  rejoined  the  army,  and  was  succeeded 
by  General  Irvine,  and  subsequently  by  General  Gates,  in 
the  command  in  Philadelphia. 

The  elections  having  been  held  according  to  the  provisions 
of  the  new  Constitution,  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  met 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1777,  and  organized  on  the  5th,  by  the 
election,  in  joint  convention  of  the  members  of  the  Assembly 
and  the  Council,  of  Thomas  Wharton,  Jr.,  as  President,  and 
George  Bryan  as  Vice-President ;  whereupon  the  Council  of 
Safety  was  dissolved.  To  impress  the  multitude  with  an 
adequate  idea  of  the  power  and  dignity  of  the  office,  the 
inauguration  was  attended  with  much  pomp  and  ceremony ; 
the  result  of  the  election  being  declared  from  the  Court- 
Ilouse  amid  the  shouts  of  the  multitude  and  the  booming  of 
the  captured  cannon  from  the  field  of  Trenton.  The  title 
given  to  the  new  dignitarv  was  a  long  and  loud  resounding 
one:  "His  Excellency  Thomas  Wharton,  Junior,  Esquire, 
President  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  of  Pennsylvania, 


200      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

Captain  -  General  and  Commander-in-chief  in  and  over  the 
same." 

Among  the  earliest  acts  of  Council  was  the  appointment  of 
a  Board  of  War,  consisting  of  nine  members,  and  one  of  the 
Navy  of  eleven.  The  Board  of  War  immediately  applied 
to  Congress  for  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  defence, 
which  not  being  immediately  granted,  this  sum  was  appro- 
priated by  the  Council.  The  activity  of  the  enemy  at  New 
York,  in  gathering  transports  and  moving  troops,  gave  indi- 
cation of  an  intention  to  make  a  descent  upon  some  other 
part  of  the  coast,  and  Philadelphia  was  judged  to  be  ita 
destination.  On  the  8th  of  April,  General  Putnam  advised 
Congress  of  the  movements  of  the  enemy  at  Amboy,  and  gave 
it  as  his  opinion  that  the  capture  of  Philadelphia  was  the 
purpose.  On  the  following  day  the  Council  published  a 
proclamation  urging  instant  action,  and  concluding  thus: 
"It  has  been  repeatedly  and  justly  observed,  and  ought  to  be 
acknowledged  as  a  signal  evidence  of  the  favor  of  Divine 
Providence,  that  the  lives  of  the  militia  in  every  battle  dur- 
ing this  just  war  have  been  remarkably  spared.  Confiding, 
therefore,  in  the  continuance  of  the  blessing  of  Him,  who  is 
indeed  the  God  of  armies,  let  every  man  among  us  hold  him- 
self ready  to  march  into  the  field  whenever  he  shall  be  called 
upon  to  do  so."  Congress  resolved  to  establish  a  camp  for 
recruits  on  the  west  side  of  the  Delaware,  to  the  command 
of  which  General  Benedict  Arnold  was  assigned,  General 
Philip  Schuyler  being  at  this  time  in  command  in  the  city. 
On  the  10th  of  June,  General  Miffiin  appeared  in  person 
before  Congress  with  a  letter  from  General  Washington,  ex- 
pressing his  firm  conviction  that  the  enemy  meditated  an 
immediate  descent  upon  some  part .  of  Pennsylvania.  A 
French  engineer,  by  the  name  of  Du  Coudray,  in  company 
with  General  MifHin,  was  sent  to  examine  the  condition  of 
the  defences  of  the  city  and  its  approaches,  who  recommended 
that  preparations  should  be  made  at  Billingsport  for  the  chief 
point  of  defence,  the  works  at  Red  Bank  being  declared 
useless. 

The  b>rvvv  aimed  at  Philadelphia  did  not  fall  till  near  the 


THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR.  201 

<jlose  of  July.  In  a  fleet  of  two  hundred  and  forty  war-ships 
and  transports,  Lord  Howe,  with  a  force  of  eighteen  thousand 
men,  making  as  if  he  would  ascend  the  Hudson,  suddenly 
changed  his  course  and  steered  for  the  mouth  of  the  Dela- 
ware. Washington  followed  overland,  passing  through 
Philadelphia  on  Sunday,  the  24th  of  August,  and  taking  the 
road  to  Chester.  The  militia  of  the  city,  which  had  heen 
divided  into  three  classes,  and  the  first  two  of  which  had 
been  already  called,  were  now  ordered  out  entire,  one  de- 
tachment heing  stationed  at  Downingtown,  and  the  other  at 
Chester.  Leaden  spouts  upon  the  houses  were  torn  off  for 
use  in  making  bullets.  A  fleet  of  twelve  fire-ships  was  held  in 
readiness  for  protection  on  the  Delaware,  and  every  prepara- 
tion made  for  a  vigorous  defence.  But  Howe,  instead  of 
ascending  the  Delaware,  moved  up  the  Chesapeake,  and,  de- 
barking, commenced  the  march  across  the  country  by  a  route 
where  no  preparations  had  been  made  to  check  him.  With  the 
enemy's  designs  in  full  prospect,  the  Council  put  forth  every 
effort  to  bring  out  the  entire  fighting  force  'of  the  Colony. 
In  a  proclamation  issued  on  the  10th,  they  say  :  "  The  time 
is  at  length  come,  in  which  the  fate  of  ourselves,  our  wives, 
children,  and  posterity,  must  be  speedily  determined.  Gen- 
eral Howe,  at  the  head  of  a  British  army,  the  only  hope  and 

last  resource  of  our  enemies,  has  invaded  this  State 

Blessed  be  God!  Providence  seems  to  have  left  it  to  our- 
selves, to  determine  whether  we  shall  triumph  in  victory, 
and  rest  in  freedom  and  peace ;  or,  by  tamely  submitting  or 
weakly  resisting,  deliver  ourselves  up  a  prey  to  an  enemy 
than  whom  none  more  cruel  and  perfidious  was  ever  suffered 
to  vex  and  destroy  any  people.  .  .  .  Above  all,  consider  the 
mournful  prospect  of-  seeing  Americans,  like  the  wretched 
inhabitants  of  India,  stripped  of  their  freedom,  robbed  of 
their  property,  degraded  beneath  the  brutes,  and  left  to  starve 
amid  plenty,  at  the  will  of  their  lordly  masters ;  and  let  us 
determine  once  for  all,  that  we  will- die  or  be  free!  .  .  .  The 
Council,  therefore,  most  humbly  beseech  and  entreat  all  per- 
sons whatsoever,  to  exert  themselves,  without  delay,  to  seize 
this  present  opportunity  of  crushing  the  foe  now  in  the 


202      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

bowels  of  our  country,  by  marching  forth  instantly  under 
their  respective  officers  to  the  assistance  of  our  great  General, 
that  he  may  be  enabled  to  environ  and  demolish  the  only 
British  army  that  remains  formidable  in  America.  .  .  .  GOD 

SAVE   THE   PEOPLE !  " 

Washington  pushed  forward  with  his  little  army.  At 
Newark  the  advance  guards  met  and  skirmished  lightly. 
Discovering  that  it  was  the  design  of  the  British  commander 
to  turn  his  right,  he  fell  back  behind  the  Brandywine,  and 
prepared  to  defend  the  line  of  that  stream.  At  Pyle's  Ford 
General  Armstrong  with  the  Philadelphia  militia  was  posted; 
Washington,  in  person,  took  position  at  Chad's  Ford ;  and 
Sullivan  at  Brinton's,  two  miles  further  up.  Howe  laid  his 
plans  skilfully,  and  fortune  favored  their  execution.  He  sent 
Knyphausen  with  a  detachment  to  Chad's  Ford,  in  Washing- 
ton's immediate  front,  to  make  a  noisy  demonstration,  as  if 
intent  to  cross,  while,  with  the  main  body  of  his  army  in 
light  marching  order,  he  pushed  on  up  the  Valley  under 
cover  of  a  denSe  fog  to  TrumbulPs  and  Jeffrey's  Fords,  far 
past  the  American  right,  where  he  crossed  without  opposition. 
StilL  Washington  was  deceived.  Intelligence  that  this  move- 
inent\\2'=!  being  executed  was  brought  him;  but  soon  after 
came  messengers  contradicting  this  report,  and  he  made  all 
his  dispositions  to  meet  Knyphausen,  who,  judging  by  the 
incessant  pounding  that  he  kept  up,  was  determined  to  break 
through  and  effect  a  crossing.  Howe  soon  came  unawares  upon 
Sullivan,  who  was  on  Washington's  extreme  right.  Beaten 
by  this  adroit  mano3uvre,  the  latter  turned  to  make  such  a 
stand  as  he  was  able,  with  a  force  a  third  smaller  than  that 
of  his  adversary,  and  but  indifferently  armed  and  equipped ; 
and  in  the  neighborhood  of  *he  Birmingham  meeting-house, 
on  the  llth  of  September,  a  severe  battle  ensued,  which 
lasted  the  whole  day,  General  Lafayette,  a  young  French 
nobleman,  who  had  but  a  few  days  before  arrived  in  the 
country,  and  been  given  a  command,  was  here  wounded,  and 
some  of  the  bravest  of  the  American  troops  were  cut,  down. 
The  severely  wounded  were  carried  into  the  meeting-house, 


THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR.  203 

and  to  this  day  the  stains  of  blood  from  the  wounds  of  the 
patriot-soldiers  remain  upon  its  -floor.  The  Americans  were 
finally  forced  back,  and  retired  to  Chester ;  the  British  en- 
camping upon  the  field. 

Washington  again  confronted  Howe,  moving  leisurely  to- 
wards Philadelphia,  at  a  point  twenty  miles  from  the  city,  on 
the  16th;  but  was  prevented  from  joining  in  a  general  engage- 
ment by  a  severe  and  continuous  rain,  which  completely 
ruined  his  ammunition.  At  Paoli,  on  the  night  of  the  20th, 
General  Wayne,  who  was  hanging  upon  the  rear  of  the 
British  army  with  a  force  of  eighteen  hundred  men,  was  sur- 
prised by  General  Gray ;  and  nearly  three  hundred  of  his  men 
were  wounded  or  massacred.  Fifty-three  of  the  patriots  were 
buried  in  one  grave,  and  over  their  remains  the  Republican 
Artillerists  of  Chester  County,  forty  years  afterwards,  erected 
a  monument.  At  Reading,  considerable  quantities  of  military 
stores  had  been  gathered,  and  fearing  that  Ho  we  might  strike 
for  their  capture  or  destruction,  Washington  withdrew  in 
that  direction.  Howe,  being  left  without  opposition,  moved 
in  the  direction  of  Philadelphia,  which  he  entered  on  the  26th. 
Washington,  having  reorganized  his  shattered  army,  moved 
forward,  and  on  the  3d  of  October  attacked  the  enemy  at 
Germantown.  At  the  opening  of  the  battle,  he  felt  sanguine 
of  success ;  but  hampered  by  a  dense  fog  which  settled  down 
over  the  field,  occasioning  confusion  in  his  ranks,  he  was  at 
length,  after  a  hard- fought  battle,  obliged  to  withdraw. 
Howe  put  his  army  in  winter-quarters  in  Philadelphia,  and 
Washington  retired  to  White  Marsh,  and  subsequently  went 
into  winter-quarters  at  Valley  Forge. 

In  the  meantime  General  Burgoyne,  with  an  army  of  ten 
thousand  men,  moving  up  the  Hudson,  had  captured  Fort 
Ticonderoga  on  the  5th  of  July ;  the  garrison,  under  General 
St.  Clair,  escaping.  On  the  19th  of  September,  and  again  on 
the  7th  of  October,  Burgoyne  was  met  at  Saratoga  by  the 
Americans,  now  under  General  Gates,  where  he  suffered 
severely;  and  ten  days  afterwards,  finding  retreat  impossible, 
his  whole  army  was  compelled  to  lay  down  its  arms,  and  sur- 


204      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

render  prisoners  of  war.  A  fine  train  of  brass  field-pieces, 
five  thousand  muskets,  and  large  quantities  of  much-needed 
munitions  of  war,  were  captured. 

Congress  and  the  Executive  Council  remained  in  Phila- 
delphia during  the  exciting  events  that  were  transpiring  be- 
fore the  city.  On  the  18th  of  September,  Congress  adjourned 
to  meet  at  Lancaster,  where  it  convened  on  the  27th ;  but  on 
the  30th  removed  to  York,  where  it  remained  in  session  until 
the  following  summer.  The  Council  remained  until  the  24th, 
when — the  money  and  papers  belonging  to  the  loan  office, 
and  the  books  belonging  to  the  State,  in  the  Philadelphia 
Library,  having  been  removed  to  Easton  —  it  adjourned  to 
Lancaster.  On  the  26th  the  vanguard  of  the  British  army 
entered  the  city.  Deborah  Logan  has  left  some  interesting 
reminiscences  of  the  event.  She  says :  "  The  army  marched 
in  and  took  possession  of  the  city  in  the  morning.  We  were 
up-stairs  [at  the  Norris  mansion  between  Fourth  and  Fifth] 
and  saw  them  pass  the  State  House.  They  looked  well,  clean, 
and  well  clad,  and  the  contrast  between  them  and  our  own 
poor,  barefooted,  ragged  troops  was  very  great,  and  caused  a 
feeling  of  despair.  .  .  .  Early  in  the  afternoon  Lord  Corn- 
Wdilis's  suite  arrived,  and  took  possession  of  my  mother's 
house.  But  my  mother  was  appalled  by  the  numerous  train 
which  took  possession  of  her  dwelling,  and  shrunk  from 
having  such  inmates,  for  a  guard  was  mounted  at  the  door, 
and  the  yard  was  filled  with  soldiers  and  baggage  of  every 
description;  and  I  well  remember  what  we  thought  of  the 
haughty  looks  of  Lord  Rawdon  and  the  other  aid-de-camp, 
as  they  traversed  the  apartments.  My  mother  desired  to 
speak  with  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  he  attended  her  in  the  front 
parlor.  She  told  him  of  her  situation,  and  how  impossible  it 
would  be  for  her  to  stay  in  her  own  house  with  such  a  nu- 
merous train  as  composed  his  Lordship's  establishment.  He 
behaved  with  great  politeness  to  her;  said  he  should  be  sorry 
to  give  trouble,  and  would  have  other  quarters  looked  out  for 
him.  They  withdrew  that  very  afternoon,  and  he  was  accom- 
modated at  Peter  Reeves','  in  Second  Street,  near  Spruce; 


THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR.  205 

but  it  did  not  last  long,  for  directly  the  quartermasters  were 
engaged  in  billeting  the  troops,  and  we  had  to  find  room  for 
two  officers  of  artillery,  and  afterward,  in  addition,  for  two 
gentlemen,  secretaries  of  Lord  Howe." 

The  first  care  of  the  British  General,  after  gaining  posses- 
sion of  the  city,  was  to  complete  the  defensive  works  which 
had  been  commenced  while  General  Putnam  was  in  com- 
mand, and  to  construct  such  others  as  were  necessary  to  make 
its  occupation  secure.  The  Delaware  below  the  city  was  still 
held  by  the  Americans.  Mud  Fort  upon  Fort  Island,  Fort 
Mercer  at  Red  Bank,  and  Fort  Mifflin  at  Mud  Island,  still 
held  patriot  garrisons.  There  would  be  no  safety  to  the  royal 
army  until  the  navigation  of  the  river  was  clear  for  the  royal 
fleet..  Washington  recognized  the  importance  of  holding 
these  forts,  and  immediately  sent  veteran  troops  to  garrison 
them.  Varnum's  K.  I.  brigade,  under  Colonels  Greene  and 
Angell,  was  selected  to  occupy  Fort  Mercer,  and  this  the 
enemy  attacked  on  the  21st  of  October  with  twenty-five  hun- 
dred picked  men,  under  Colonel  Count  Donop.  The  assaulting 
party  moved  in  two  columns  with  great  gallantry  and  deter- 
mination ;  but  the  deliberate  and  deadly  fire  of  the  defenders 
became  too  terrible  to  face,  and  it  was  swept  back  in  confu- 
sion, with  a  loss  of  over  four  hundred ;  Count  Donop,  the 
leader,  being  mortally  wounded.  The  discomfited  party  did 
not  renew  the  attack, 'but  withdrew  rapidly  to  Philadelphia. 
To  reduce  Fort  Mifflin  and  open  a  passage  through  the 
chevaux-de-frise,  which  had  been  placed  in  the  channel,  now  be- 
came an  object  of  solicitude  to  the  commanders  of  both  army 
and  fleet,  and  the  most  elaborate  preparations  were  made  for 
its  reduction  by  the  erection  of  works  to  command  it  on  all 
sides,  and  by  the  powerful  guns  of  the  fleet.  On  the  10th  of 
November  the  enemy  opened  upon  it,  and  for  the  space  of 
six  days  the  missiles  of  the  assailants  from  forts  and  fleet  were 
poured  upon  this  one  small  defensive  work.  Nothing  daunted, 
the  little  garrison  answered  with  effect,  and  gallantly  main- 
tained the  unequal  contest.  Finally  the  enemy  having  run 
close  up  with  his  gunboats,  and  manned  the  yards  with 


£06      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

sharpshooters,  it  became  impossible  for  the  defenders  to 
work  their  guns,  when,  on  the  night  of  the  16th,  the  garrison, 
having  removed  or  destroyed  everything  of  value,  retired 
without  molestation.  Red  Bank  was  soon  after  abandoned, 
and  the  river  was  opened  to  the  enemy's  fleet. 

Before  the  final  reduction  of  Fort  Mifflin,  Howe's  army 
had  begun  to  suffer  from  want  of  many  articles  not  obtain- 
able in  the  city,  and  which  he  was  prevented  from  securing 
from  abroad  by  the  vigilance  of  Washington.  The  river  now 
being  opened,  an  active  commerce  sprung  up,  and  many  mer- 
chants rushed  to  the  city  to  open  business.  The  relief  of  his 
army  being  effected,  Howe  determined  to  attack  Washington 
in  his  camp  at  White  Marsh,  sixteen  miles  from  the  city;  and 
with  fifteen  thousand  men,  on  the  morning  of  the  4th  of  De- 
cember, marched  out,  confident  of  easy  victory,  and  as  he 
himself  declared,  of  "  driving  General  Washington  over  the 
Blue  Mountains."  But  Washington,  through  intelligence 
gained  from  the  faithful  Lydia  Darrah,  who,  under  pretence 
of  passing  the  lines  to  get  flour,  had  hastened  to  acquaint 
him  with  the  enemy's  design,  was  prepared  to  meet  them, 
and,  after  a  wearisome  march  and  fruitless  manceuvrings,  they 
returned  to  the  city. 

The  winter  of  1777-8  was  remarkably  severe,  and  the  Amer- 
ican soldiers,  indifferently  clad,  were  subjected  to  extreme 
suffering,  their  footprints  often  marking  the  snow  with  their 
blood.  Their  camp  was  at  Valley  Forge,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Schuylkill,  twenty  miles  from  Philadelphia.  In  the  meantime 
the  British  army  was  enjoying  the  comforts  of  a  luxurious  city, 
its  officers  passing  their  time  in  a  continued  round  of  gayeties 
and  dissolute  living.  Reconnoitring  parties  were  frequently 
sent  from  both  armies  during  the  winter,  which  often  met,  re- 
sulting in  daring  and  desperate  encounters;  but  no  general  en- 
gagement occurred.  Early  in  the  year  1778,  Lord  Howe  was 
superseded  in  the  chief  command  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who 
arrived  in  Philadelphia  on  the  7th  of  May.  The  departure  of 
Howe  was  made  the  occasion  of  a  gorgeous  display,  regatta, 
and  tournament,  in  which  the  glitter  of  costly  apparel,  the 


THOMAS  WHARTON,  JR.  207 

march  of  troops,  and  the  thunder  of  artillery,  could  not  have 
heen  exceeded  had  itheen  produced  to  signalize  the  triumphs 
of  a  mighty  conqueror  returning  from  countless  conquests. 

As  early  as  the  22d  of  September,  1776,  Congress  had  sent 
as  ambassadors  to  the  court  of  France,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Silas  Deane,  and  Arthur  Lee,  who  succeeded  in  securing 
arms  and  money  for  the  patriot  cause,  and  finally  in  nego- 
tiating a  treaty  of  alliance  whereby  substantial  aid  was  to  be 
extended  to  America.  In  compliance  with  this  agreement, 
the  French  Ministry  dispatched  a  fleet  of  twelve  ships  and  four 
frigates,  under  command  of  Count  d'Estang,  to  blockade  the 
British  flotilla  in  the  Delaware.  Of  this  determination  the 
British  Cabinet  became  cognizant,  and  instantly  sent  orders 
for  the  evacuation  of  Philadelphia.  Howe  at  once  put  to  sea 
and  steered  for  New  York,  and  when,  on  the  8th  of  July, 
D'Estang  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware,  he  found 
that  his  adversary  had  escaped.  The  British  Admiral  took 
shelter  in  Raritan  Bay,  where,  on  account  of  the  bar  at  its 
mouth,  the  heavy  French  frigates  could  not  reach  him. 
"With  his  army  Sir  Henry  Clinton  moved  in  the  same  direc- 
tion across  the  country  by  the  way  of  IsTew  Brunswick  and 
Amboy.  Washington,  ever  on  the  alert,  had  divined  the 
purpose  of  the  British  commander,  and  early  put  his  forces 
in  motion  to  follow  and  offer  battle.  The  two  armies  met  on 
the  plains  of  Monmouth,  on  Sunday  the  28th  of  June.  The 
day  was  intensely  hot.  The  battle  was  opened  by  the  divi- 
sion of  General  Lee,  which,  for  lack  of  skilful  handling,  was 
thrown  into  confusion  and  disastrous  retreat.  Washington 
met  the  flying  column,  and  by  his  steadiness  and  courage 
restored  order.  After  a  severe  battle,  which  lasted  the  whole 
day,  the  enemy  was  beaten,  retreating  during  the  night,  having 
sustained  heavy  losses,  and  leaving  his  dead  and  wounded  in 
the  hands  of  the  victors. 

The  Assembly  and  the  Executive  Council  remained  in 
session  at  Lancaster  during  the  winter  of  1777-8,  and  co- 
operated with  Congress,  which  was  at  York,  and  Washington 
at  Valley  Forge.  Legislation  was  principally  devoted  to  the 


208      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

interests  of  the  army  and  the  American  cause,  the  most 
notable  civil  act  being  that  by  which  the  authority  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  and  College  were  sus- 
pended for  a  limited  time. 

On  the  23d  of  May,  1778,  Thomas  Wharton,  Jr.,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Council,  died  suddenly  of  an  attack  of  quinsy, 
at  Lancaster.  He  was  descended  from  an  ancient  English 
family,  one  of  whom,  Richard,  of  Kellorth,  in  Orton  parish, 
Westmoreland  county,  England,  emigrated  to  Pennsylvania 
about  1683.  One  of  his  sons,  John,  was  the  father  of  Presi- 
dent Wharton,  who  was  born  at  Philadelphia  in  1735.  He 
was  twice  married :  first  to  Susan,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Lloyd  ;  and,  after  her  death,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William 
Fishbourn.  He  had  several  children  by  each  marriage,  the 
descendants  of  whom  are  now  living  in  Philadelphia  and  its 
vicinity.  He  was  by  profession  a  merchant;  and  by  his  patri- 
otism and  virtue  commanded  the  respect  and  esteem  jf  the 
best  cultivated  classes,  and,  when  the  new  Constitution  was 
adopted,  he  was  elected  as  the  chief  executive  officer,  —  a 
position  which  he  held  to  the  day  of  his  death,  discharging 
its  duties  in  a  most  trying  emergency  with  singular  ability 
and  success.  To  the  weight  of  his  character,  and  his  firm- 
ness, in  the  executive  trust,  was  due,  in  a  good  degree,  the 
permanence  of  the  new  Constitution,  the  adherence  of  the 
Colony  to  the  patriot  cause,  and  thus,  indirectly,  the  success 
of  the  struggle  for  Independence.  Some  of  the  minor  details 
of  that  frame  of  government  may  have  been  conceived  in 
error ;  but  in  its  bill  of  rights  were  embodied  the  great  prin- 
ciples of  liberty  and  of  republican  institutions,  which  have 
been  the  glory  of  the  Commonwealth  in  succeeding  time.  The 
estimate  which  was  formed  of  economy,  integrity,  and  virtue, 
by  the  framers  of  that  instrument,  is  strikingly  illustrated  by 
the  following  section  :  "  As  every  freeman,  to  preserve  his 
independence  (if  without  a  sufficient  estate),  ought  to  have 
some  profession,  calling,  trade,  or  farm,  whereby  he  may 
honestly  subsist,  there  can  be  no  necessity  for,  nor  use  in, 
establishing  offices  of  profit,  the  usual  effects  of  which  are 


THOMAJ  WHARTON,  JR.  209 

dependence  and  servility,  unbecoming  freemen,  in  the  posses- 
sors and  expectants;  faction,  contention,  corruption,  and  dis- 
order among  the  people.  But  if  any  man  is  called  into  public 
service  to  the  prejudice  of  his  private  affairs,  he  has  a  right 
to  a  reasonable  compensation ;  and  whenever  an  office, 
through  increase  of  fees  or  otherwise,  becomes  so  profitable  * 
as  to  occasion  many  to  apply  for  it,  the  profits  ought  to  be 
lessened  by  the  legislature." 

The  ardent  attachment  which  President  Wharton  had  for 
the  principles  embodied  in  the  new  Constitution,  and  the 
unselfish  motives  by  which  he  was  actuated  in  its  support, 
are  aptly  exemplified  in  a  letter  addressed  by  him  to  Arthur 
St.  Clair  soon  after  its  adoption.  The  letter  has  never  before 
been  published,  and  has  been  furnished  by  his  grandson, 
G.  M.  Wharton,  Esq.,  for  use  in  this  memoir.  "  It  is  too 
true,"  he  says,  "  that  the  differences  amongst  ourselves  have 
been  attended  with  bad  consequences,  and  I  am  much  afraid 
they  will  not  soon  be  at  an  end.  People  have  different 
purposes  to  answer;  and  I  doubt  much,  if  all  those  that  are 
taking  an  active  part  against  the  present  frame  of  govern- 
ment, are  actuated  by  a  love  of  [torn].  True  it  is,  there  are 
many  faults  which  I  hope  one  day  to  see  removed ;  but  it  is 
true  that,  if  the  Government  should  at  this  time  be  overset, 
it  would  be  attended  with  the  worst  consequences,  not  only 
to  this  State,  but  to  the  whole  continent  in  the  opposition 
we  are  making  to  the  tyranny  of  Great  Britain.  If  a  better 
frame  of  government  could  be  adopted, — such  a  one  as  would 
please  a  much  greater  majority  than  the  present  one,  —  I 
should  be  very  happy  in  seeing  it  brought  about ;  and  any 
gentleman  that  should  be  thought  by  the  public  qualified  to 
take  my  seat,  should  have  my  hearty  voice  for  it.  My  ardent 
ambition  never  led  me  to  expect  or  ask  for  it;  if  I  have  any, 
it  is  to  be  thought,  and  to  merit,  the  character  of  an  honest 
man.  I  feel  myself  very  inadequate  to  the  station  I  am  in ; 
but  some  that  were  fit  for  it  have  either  withdrawn  them- 
selves entirely,  or  are  opposing  the  Government.  However, 
as  it  is  in  the  power  of  every  man  to  act  with  integrity  and 
14 


210     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

uprightness,  lie  that  does  that,  will  at  least  have  the  approba- 
tion of  his  own  conscience,  and  merit  that  of  the  public."  .  .  . 
Mr.  Wharton  was  a  warm  supporter  of  the  principles  of 
the  Revolution,  and  risked  his  life  and  fortune  in  the  cause. 
He  owned  a  country-seat,  called  Twickenham,  situated  near 
*  Abington  Meeting-House,  in  Montgomery  County,  where  he 
.  occasionally  resided ;  and  on  the  lawn,  in  front  of  his  dwelling, 
occurred  a  sharp  skirmish  between  the  British  and  Amer- 
ican troops.  His  funeral  was  a  public  one,  being  conducted 
by  a  committee  of  the  State  Government,  and  the  carriers 
and  pall-bearers  were  from  among  the  members  of  the  As 
sembly  and  Council,  by  whom  he  was  greatly  respected  and 
loved.  He  was  buried  with  military  honors  as  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  forces  of  the  State;  and,  at  the  request  of  the 
elders  and  vestry  of  the  Evangelical  Trinity  Church  of  Lan- 
caster, his  body  was  interred  within  the  walls  of  that  edifice. 


GEORGE  BRYAN,  •• "...  i 

VICE-PRESIDENT    AND    ACTING    PRESIDENT   OP   THE    SUPREME 
EXECUTIVE   COUNCIL. 

May  23  to  December  1,  1778. 

BY  the  decease  of  Thomas  Wharton,  Jr.,  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent, George  Bryan  became  the  acting  President  of  the 
Council.  Congress,  which  had  been  in  session  at  York 
during  the  invasion  of  the  State  by  the  British  army,  upon 
its  withdrawal  returned  to  Philadelphia,  holding  its  first 
session  there  on  the  24th  of  June,  1778.  The  Council,  which 
had  been  at  Lancaster,  also  returned,  and  convened  on  the 
following  day.  Major-General  Benedict  Arnold,  on  account 
of  wounds  received  in  the  second  battle  of  Saratoga,  being 
unfit  for  field-duty,  was  assigned  to  command  in  Philadelphia, 
and  marched  in  with  a  regiment  of  veterans  on  the  day  suc- 
ceeding the  departure  of  the  British.  It  is  related  that 
"  when  the  American  army  entered  Philadelphia  there  was  a 
great  scarcity  of  ammunition,  and  cartridge-paper  being  par- 
ticularly wanted,  the  whole  city  was  ransacked  for  a  supply. 
At  length,  in  a  garret  once  occupied  as  a  lumber-room  by 
Dr.  Franklin,  when  a  printer,  a  vast  collection  of  waste  paper 
was  discovered.  Among  the  mass  was  more  than  a  cartload 
of  '  Sermons  on  Defensive  War,'  preached  by  the  famous 
Gilbert  Tennant  during  the  old  British  and  French  war,  for 
the  purpose  of  rousing  the  Colonists  to  exertion.  These 
appropriate  manifestoes  were  immediately  worked  up  into 
musket-cartridges  and  distributed  to  the  army,  which  fired 
them  away  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth  against  the  retiring 
foe."  The  city  was  no  sooner  clear  of  the  enemy  than  the 
loyal  inhabitants,  who  had  been  exiles  for  nearly  a  year, 

211 


212      PRESIDENTS  OF  TEE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

began  rapidly  to  return.  The  destruction  of  property,  in  many 
cases  purposeless  and  indiscriminate,  was  everywhere  pain- 
fully apparent.  Elegant  mansions  and  costly  shops  had  been 
destroyed  piecemeal,  and  grounds,  filled  with  varieties  of 
shade  and  shrubbery,  had  been  utterly  ruined.  "The  damage 
done  by  the  enemy,"  says  "Westcott  in  his  history  of  Phila- 
delphia, "  had  been  as  wanton  as  it  was  extensive.  The  royal 
troops  found  Philadelphia  a  cleanly  and  handsome  city;  they 
left  it  reeking  with  filth,  ruinous,  and  desolate."  Christopher 
Martial  has  the  following  entries  in  his  Remembrancer,  on  his 
return  from  Lancaster,  quoted  by  Westcott :  "  June  25. 
Took  a  walk  by  myself  to  our  once  rural,  beautiful  place  near 
Barracks,  now  nothing  but  a  wanton  desolation  and  destruc- 
tion, that  struck  me  with  horror  and  detestation  of  the  pro- 
moters and  executors  of  such  horrid  deeds.  My  mind  was  so 
pained  that  I  returned  into  the  city.  June  26.  ...  Yet  grief 
seized  me  on  beholding  the  ruins ;  houses  quite  demolished, — 
of  which  ours,  near  the  Bettering-House,  was  quite  gone, — 
with  the  brick  walls,  chimneys,  doors,  cases,  windows,  and 
roofs  either  destroyed  or  carried  away  entirely." 

D'Estang,  finding  the  British  fleet  inaccessible  in  Raritan 
Bay,  where  it  had  taken  refuge,  concerted  a  plan  with  Wash- 
ington for  reducing  the  enemy  in  Rhode  Island.  He  ac- 
cordingly sailed  thither,  accompanied  by  Generals  Lafayette 
and  Greene,  with  veteran  troops;  and  the  militia  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  and  Rhode  Island  flocked  to  the  stand- 
ard of  Sullivan,  who  had  for  some  time  been  in  command  of 
the  American  forces  in  that  quarter.  The  British  fleet,  which 
had  in  the  meantime  been  reinforced  by  some  powerful  ves- 
sels, followed  D'Estang.  Upon  their  arrival  in  the  Narragan- 
sett,  the  two  fleets  prepared  for  action ;  but  while  mano3uvring 
to  open  the  engagement,  they  were  overtaken  by  -a  terrific 
storm,  which  disabled  many  of  the  French  vessels,  and  pre- 
vented further  hostile  operations.  D'Estang  took  his  shat- 
tered fleet  to  Boston  for  repairs,  and  subsequently  departed 
for  the  "West  Indies,  there  to  operate  against  the  English. 
The  British  fleet  followed,  leaving  Sir  Henry  Clinton  without 


GEORGE  BRYAN.  213 

support,  and  preventing  all  active  campaigning  for  the  remain- 
der of  the  season,  save  in  Georgia,  whither  Colonel  Campbell 
was  dispatched  with  two  thousand  troops. 

On  the  1st  of  December,  1778,  the  term  of  one  year,  for 
which  the  President  of  the  Council  was  chosen,  expired,  and 
George  Bryan  was  relieved  of  the  duties  of  that  office  by  the 
election  of  a  successor,  though  he  was  himself  re-elected 
Yice-President,  and  continued  to  hold  that  office  -until  the 
11  th  of  October,  1779,  when  he  resigned. 

George  Bryan  was  born  in  1731,  in  Dublin,  Ireland.  He 
was  the  eldest  son,  and  in  early  life  emigrated  to  America, 
settling  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  at  first  engaged  in  mercan- 
tile pursuits,  in  which  he  was  unsuccessful.  He  was  early 
employed  in  the  public  service,  having  been  a  member  of 
the  Colonial  Congress  which  met  in  New  York  in  1765,  and 
repeatedly  a  member  of  the  Assembly  under  the  Proprietary 
Government  After  that  was  at  an  end,  he  served  in  the 
Supreme  Executive  Council  for  three  years,  the  maximum 
period  in  seven  permitted  by  the  organic  law,  as  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  a  part  of  that  time  as  acting  President  of  the 
Council.  Soon  after  retiring  from  this  office  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  Assembly,  where  he  at  once  took  a  leading 
part.  He  was  a  sincere  patriot,  and,  by  voice  and  vote,  gave 
his  powerful  support  to  the  popular  cause.  It  was  at  a  time 
when  the  most  vigilant  and  ceaseless  care  was  requisite  to 
maintain  the  new  Government,  both  State  and  National,  in 
their  struggle  with  one  of  the  leading  powers  of  the  earth ; 
but  his  was  a  nature  that  could  not  be  exclusively  absorbed 
by  the  ordinary  duties  of  the  hour.  His  heart  was  full  of 
sympathy  for  the  weak,  the  lowly,  and  the  suffering  of  every 
class ;  and  while  he  was  active  in  resisting  tyranny  from 
abroad,  he  was  equally  interested  to  remove  every  vestige  of 
oppression  at  home.  Frequent  attempts  had  been  made  to 
put  an  end  to  African  slavery  in  the  Colony,  but  none  had 
hitherto  been  successful.  In  his  message  to  the  Assembly  of 
the  9th  of  November,  1778,  as  acting  President  of  the  Council, 
in  calling  attention  to  this  subject,  he  said:  "  This,  or  some 


214      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

better  scheme,  would  tend  to  abrogate  slavery,  the  opprobrii  irn 
of  America,  from  among  us ;  and  no  period  seems  more 
happy  for  the  attempt  than  the  present,  as  the  number  of 
such  unhappy  characters,  ever  few  in  Pennsylvania,  has 
been  much  reduced  by  the  practices  and  plunder  of  our  late 
invaders.  In  divesting  the  State  of  slaves,  you  will  equally 
serve  the  cause  of  humanity  and  policy,  and  offer  to  God  one 
of  the  most  proper  and  best  returns  of  gratitude  for  His  great 
deliverance  of  us  and  our  posterity  from  thraldom;  you  will 
also  set  your  character  for  justice  and  benevolence  in  the 
true  point  of  view  to  all  Europe,  who  are  astonished  to  see  a 
people  eager  for  liberty  holding  negroes  in  bondage." 

Being  now  a  member  of  the  popular  branch  of  the  Govern- 
ment, where  it  was  held  that  such  measures  should  properly 
originate,  he  early  matured  and  brought  forward  a  bill, 
which,  after  setting  forth  in  touching  terms  the  wrongfulness 
of  slavery,  provided  that  no  child  born  thereafter  in  Penn- 
sylvania of  slave  parents  should  be  a  slave,  but  a  servant 
until  the  age  of  twenty -eight  years,  when  all  claim  for 
further  service  should  cease  ;  that  all  slaves  should  be  imme- 
diately registered,  and  unless  so  registered,  should  be  deemed 
free;  and  that  slaves  should  be  tried  as  other  persons,  and  if 
capitally  punished,  the  master  should  be  paid  from  the  public 
treasury.  "  It  was  passed,"  says  "Westcott,  "  on  second 
reading  by  a  vote  of  forty  yeas  to  eighteen  nays ;  and,  upon 
third  reading,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1780,  by  thirty-four  yeas 
to  eighteen  nays."  Thus  by  a  law,  simple  in  its  operations, 
with  little  inconvenience  to  any,  was  a  great  act  of  justice 
consummated,  striking  with  withering  effect  at  the  roots  of  a 
great  social  evil,  and  securing  a  perpetual  blessing  in  its  far- 
reaching  consequences.  "  There  is  very  little  doubt,"  says 
the  authority  above  quoted,  "  but  that  George  Bryan  deserves 
the  credit  of  originating,  and  finally  of  urging  this  humane 
measure  to  a  successful  vote.  He  was  aided  by  others,  but 
he  seemed  to  make  the  passage  of  the  law  his  especial  care." 

In  1780,  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the  Suj  reme  Court 
of  the  State,  which  office  he  held  for  eleven  years,  and  until 


GEORGE  BRYAN.  215 

his  death,  discharging  its  cftities  with  ability  and  fidelity.  In 
1784  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  Council  of  Censors,  of  which 
body  he  was  a  leading  member.  He  died  on  the  27th  of 
January,  1791,  aged  sixty  years.  His  remains  were  interred 
in  the  bury  ing-ground  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  church, 
Arch  Street  near  Fifth. 

Of  his  character  and  attainments,  Dr.  Ewing,  Provost  of 
the  University,  in  a  discourse  delivered  upon  the  occasion  of 
his  death,  said :  "  As  formed  by  nature  for  a  close  application 
to  study,  and  animated  with  an  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge, 
and  blest  with  a  memory  surprisingly  tenacious,  and  the 
uncommon  attendant,  a  clear,  penetrating,  and  decisive  judg- 
ment, his  mind  was  the  storehouse  of  extensive  information 
on  a  great  variety  of  subjects.  Thus  endowed  and  qualified, 
he  was  able,  on  most  occasions,  to  avail  himself  of  the  labors 
and  acquisitions,  the  researches  and  decisions  of  the  most 
distinguished  luminaries  that  had  finished  their  course  and  set 
before  him.  You  could,  therefore,  with  confidence,  generally 
depend  upon  his  judgment  as  the  last  result  of  laborious  in- 
vestigation and  mature  decision.  And  if  you  add  to  these 
natural  and  acquired  endowments  the  moral  virtues  and 
dispositions  of  his  heart,  his  benevolence  and  sympathy  with  the 
distressed,  his  unaffected  humility  and  easiness  of  access  upon 
all  occasions,  his  readiness  to  forgive,  and  his  godlike  superi- 
ority to  the  injuries  of  a  misjudging  world  (in  imitation  of 
his  divine  Master,  who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not 
again),  his  inflexible  integrity  in  the  administration  of  justice, 
together  with  his  exalted  contempt  of  both  the  frowns  and 
the  blandishments  of  the  world,  you  will  find  him  eminently 
qualified  for  the  faithful  and  honorable  discharge  of  the 
various  public  offices  which  he  filled,  with  dignity  and  repu- 
tation, even  in  the  worst  of  times,  and  in  the  midst  of  a 
torrent  of  unmerited  obloquy  and  opposition.  Such  an 
assemblage  of  unusual  qualifications  and  virtues  as  adorned 
the  character  of  our  departed  friend,  but  seldom  unite  in  a 
single  man." 


JOSEPH  REED, 

PRESIDENT  OF   THE   SUPREME   EXECUTIVE   COUNCIL, 

December  1,  1778,  to  October  8,  1781. 


election  of  officers  of  the  Council  for  a  third  Con- 
-L  stitutional  term  of  one  year,  resulted  in  the  choice  of 
Joseph  Reed,  President,  and  George  Bryan,  Vice  President. 
The  latter  resigned  on  the  llth  of  October,  1779,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Matthew  Smith,  who,  however,  retained  the 
office  but  eleven  days,  when  William  Moore  was  elected,  and 
continued  to  discharge  the  duties  until  the  close  of  the  term. 
President  Reed  had,  previously,  been  an  officer  in  the  Ameri- 
can army,  and  intimately  associated  with  Washington,  and 
while  at  the  head  of  the  Council  was  largety  employed  in 
devising  legislation  for  the  support  and  ultimate  triumph  of 
the  American  cause.  Hence  the  recital  of  the  chief  incidents 
of  his  life  is,  in  a  good  degree,  the  history  of  the  Colony  as  it 
stands  related  to  the  nation. 

Joseph  Reed  w»s  born  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  on  the  27th 
of  August,  1741.  lie  was  the  son  of  Andrew  Reed  and 
Theodosia  Bowers,  and  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  Soon 
after  the  birth  of  their  son  they  removed  to  Philadelphia, 
where  they  remained  for  some  eleven  years,  when  they  re- 
turned to  Trenton.  The  son's  early  education  was  obtained 
at  the  Philadelphia  Academy,  later  at  Princeton,  where  he 
took  his  Bachelor's  degree  in  1757,  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  He 
chose  the  law  as  his  profession,  and  prosecuted  its  study  with 
Richard  Stockton,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  New  Jersey,  after- 
wards a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  in 
May.  1763,  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  Unlike  many  young 
men  of  the  present  time,  who  are  eager  to  succeed  to  an  early 

216 


JOSEPH  REED.  217 

practice,  regardless  of  the  preparation  by  which  it  shall  be 
sustained,  he  sought,  by  the  most  elaborate  fundamental 
studies,  to  prepare  himself  to  take  a  leading  rank  when  he 
should  finally  become  established  in  it,  and  in  the  early  sum- 
mer of  that  year  embarked  for  England,  where  he  entered  as 
a  student  in  the  Middle  Temple,  remaining  for  nearly  two 
years.  It  was  the  period  when  the  excitement  incident  to 
the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  prevailed,  in  which  Americans 
residing  in  England  could  not  fail  to  be  deeply  absorbed. 
Upon  his  return,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  with 
flattering  success. 

Early  in  1770  Mr.  Reed  again  visited  England,  and  in  May 
of  that  year  was  married  in  London,  to  Esther,  daughter  of 
Dennis  De  Bert,  the  former  agent  of  Massachusetts  Bay  at 
the  Court  of  St.  James.  In  October  he  returned  to  America, 
and  on  his  arrival  took  up  his  residence  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In 
the  popular  movements  in  Pennsylvania,  in  common  with 
the  other  Colonies,  connected  with  the  Duty  on  Tea,  and  sub- 
sequently with  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  he  took  an  active  part. 
He  was  also  the  confidential  correspondent  of  Lord  Dart- 
mouth, then  Colonial  secretary,  and  strove  most  anxiously  to 
persuade  the  Ministry  to  measures  of  moderation.  In  1774 
he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Correspond- 
ence for  Philadelphia,  and  in  January  of  the  following  year, 
was  president  of  the  second  Provincial  Convention. 

At  the  opening  of  hostilities,  and  the  appointment  of 
Washington  to  the  chief  command  of  the  American  forces, 
Reed  hastened  to  his  support',  and  was  immediately  made  a 
member  of  his  military  family.  Irving,  in  his  Life  of  Wash- 
ington, gives  the  following  account  of  his  reception  at  head- 
quarters:  "The  member  of  Washington's  family  most  de- 
serving of  mention  at  present,  was  his  secretary,  Mr.  Joseph 
Reed.  With  this  gentleman  he  had  formed  an  intimacy  in 
the  course  of  his  visits  to  Philadelphia,  to  attend  the  sessions 
of  the  Continental  Congress.  Mr.  Reed  was  an  accomplished 
man,  had  studied  law  in  America,  and  at  the  Temple  in  Lon- 


218     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

don,  and  had  gained  a  high  reputation  at  the  Philadelphia 
Bar.  In  the  dawning  of  the  Revolution,  he  had  embraced 
the  popular  cause,  and  carried  on  a  correspondence  with  the 
Earl  of  Dartmouth,  endeavoring  to  enlighten  the  minister  on 
the  subject  of  Colonial  affairs.  He  had  since  been  highly  in- 
strumental in  rousing  Philadelphians  to  cooperate  with  the 
patriots  of  Boston.  A  sympathy  of  views  and  feelings  had 
attached  him  to  Washington,  and  induced  him  to  accompany 
him  to  camp.  He  had  no  definite  purpose  when  he  left  home, 
and  his  friends  in  Philadelphia  were  surprised,  on  receiving 
a  letter  from  him  written  from  Cambridge,  to  find  that  he 
had  accepted  the  post  of  secretary  to  the  Commander-in-chief. 
They  expostulated  with  him  by  letter.  That  a  man  in  the 
thirty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  with  a  lucrative  profession,  a  young 
wife  and  growing  family,  and  a  happy  home,  should  suddenly 
abandon  all  to  join  the  hazardous  fortunes  of  the  Revolution- 
ary camp,  appeared  to  them  the  height  of  infatuation.  They 
remonstrated  on  the  peril  of  the  step.  '  I  have  no  inclina- 
tion,' replied  Reed,  '  to  be  hanged  for  half  treason.  When 
a  subject  draws  his  sword  against  his  prince,  he  must  cut  his 
way  through,  if  he  means  to  sit  down  in  safety.  I  have 
taken  too  active  a  part  in  what  may  be  called  the  civil  part 
of  opposition,  to  renounce,  without  disgrace,  the  public  cause 
when  it  seems  to  lead  to  danger ;  and  have  a  most  sovereign 
contempt  for  the  man  who  can  plan  measures  he  has  not  the 
spirit  to  execute  ! '  Washington  has  occasionally  been  repre- 
sented as  cold  and  reserved;  yet  his  intercourse  with  Mr. 
Reed  is  a  proof  to  the  contrary.  His  friendship  towards  him 
was  frank  and  cordial,  and  the  confidence  he  reposed  in  him 
full  arid  implicit.  Reed  in  fact  became,  in  a  little  time,  the 
intimate  companion  of  his  thoughts,  his  bosom  counsellor. 
He  felt  the  need  of  such  a  friend  in  the  present  exigency, 
placed  as  he  was  in  a  new  and  untried  situation,  and  having 
to  act  with  persons  hitherto  unknown  to  him.  In  military 
matters,  it  is  true,  he  had  a  shrewd  counsellor  in  General  Lee; 
but  Lee  was  a  wayward  character,  a  cosmopolite,  without  at- 
tachment to  country,  somewhat  splenetic,  and  prone  to  follow 


JOSEPH  REED.  219 

the  tent  of  his  whims  and  humors,  which  often  clashed  with 
propriety  and  sound  policy.  Reed,  on  the  contrary,  though 
less  informed  on  military  matters,  had  a  strong  common  senso, 
unclouded  hy  passion  or  prejudice,  and  a  pure  patriotism, 
which  regarded  everything  as  it  bore  upon  the  welfare  of  his 
country."  * 

He  at  first  acted  as  the  military  secretary  of  the  Com- 
mander-in-chief, having  been  assigned  to  that  duty  on  the  4th 
of  July,  1775.  Skilled  in  the  orderly  and  methodical  trans- 
action of  business,  and  being  a  ready  writer,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  the  opening  of  books  of  record,  preparing  forms,  direct- 
jng  correspondence,  composing  legal  and  state  papers,  and 
establishing  the  general  rules  and  etiquette  of  head-quarters, 
can  be  principally  traced  to  him.  In  October,  on  account  of 
the  pressure  of  private  business,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
and  on  the  26th  of  January,  though  he  was  at  the  time  acting 
as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  he  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Assembly,  to  take  the  place  made  vacant  by 
the  resignation  of  Mifflin.  Upon  the  recommendation  of 
General  Washington,  he  was  appointed  by  Congress,  Adjutant 
General  of  the  Army  in  June  of  this  year,  assuming  its  duties 
on  the  16th.  It  was  while  acting  in  this  capacity  that  Lord 
Howe  and  his  brother,  General  Howe,  who  had  just  been 
assigned  to  the  command  of  the  British  Army  and  Navy  in 
America,  loudly  trumpeted  their  mission  as  one  of  peace, 
declaring  themselves  clothed  with  authority  by  their  govern- 
ment to  treat  with  the  Americans.  Under  flag  of  truce  they 
sent  a  communication  to  Washington,  addressed  to  George 
Washington,  Esq;  Reed  was  sent  to  meet  the  officer  bearing 
it.  On  looking  at  the  address  he  declined  to  receive  it,  as 
Washington  in  his  private  capacity  had  no  right  to  hold  com- 
munication with  the  enemy.  His  action  was  approved  by  the 
General,  by  Congress,  and  the  whole  country,  and  no  addi- 
tions of  &c.,  and  &c.,  which  the  British  commanders  appended, 
could  move  the  determination  of  Washington,  as  these  officers 
well  knew  his  military  rank. 

*  Irving's  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  14. 


220     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

The  affairs  in  the  American  Army  since  its  arrival  in  New 
York,  had  been  gloomy  and  depressing  in  the  extreme.  A 
series  of  disasters  and  retreats  had  cast  a  gloom  over  the 
service  and  the  who1^  country.  In  no  breast  was  this  more 
painfully  felt  than  in  that  of  Reed.  Earnestly  hoping  and 
longing  for  success, -and  more  prosperous  days,  and  seeing 
only  disaster  follow  disaster,  he  became  distrustful,  not  of  the 
capacity  or  the  devotion  of  General  Washington,  but  of  a  lack 
of  decision  in  the  midst  of  divided  counsels,  and  in  a  letter 
to  Lee,  whose  daring  was  proverbial,  he  indulged  in  expres- 
sions disparaging  to  the  former,  and  highly  complimentary 
to  the  latter,  and  signified  a  wish  that  Lee  might  be  placed 
in  chief  command.  Lee  answered  this  letter,  and  in  replying 
to  this  part  of  it  plainly  reflected  the  sentiments  of  Reed. 
The  reply  came  in  Reed's  absence,  and,  being  in  official 
form,  was  opened  by  Washington.  At  a  glance  he  saw  that 
a  feeling  of  distrust  was  entertained  by  his  Adjutant  General. 
It  occasioned  a  coolness  on  the  part  of  Washington  towards 
Reed,  for  a  time,  where  before  had  been  the  most  intimate 
and  confiding  friendship.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  criti- 
cism was  just,  and  that  Washington  recognized  it  as  such ;  for 
he  soon  after  manifested  a  marked  change,  exhibiting  a  much 
greater  degree  of  daring  and  dash  than  ever  before.  The 
only  complaint  that  Washington  was  disposed  to  make,  was 
that  Reed  did  not  unbosom  himself  directly  to  him.  In  this 
Reed  felt  that  he  had  been  indiscreet,  a  fault  that  he  had  been 
led  into  by  his  earnest  anxiety  for  a  more  marked  success  for 
the  American  arms,  and  wrote  in  the  most  open-hearted  terms 
to  Washington,  in  which  he  said,  "  Whatever  may  be  my 
future  destination  and  course  of  life,  I  could  not  support  the 
reflection  of  being  thought  ungrateful  and  insincere  to  a 
friendship  which  was  equally  my  pride  and  my  pleasure." 
The  heart  of  Washington  was  touched,  and  the  reconciliation 
was  sincere  and  lasting. 

After  crossing  the  Hudson,  and  while  retreating  through 
New  Jersey  before  the  victorious  columns  of  Howe,  the  con- 
dition of  American  affairs  was  most  dispiriting.  Washington 


JOSEPH  REED.  221 

dispatched  Reed  to  Burlington,  with  a  letter  to  Governor 
Livingston  of  New  Jersey,  entreating  him  to  call  out  the 
militia,  and  Mifflin  was  sent  on  a  similar  errand  to  Philadel- 
phia. The  two  armies  were  now  approaching  territory  with 
which  Reed  was  perfectly  familiar,  being  the  section  of  his 
birth,  and  he  was  able  to  give  most  valuable  topographical 
information.  Before  departing  from  camp  on  the  mission  to 
the  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  he  had  communicated  his  in- 
tention to  "Washington  of  resigning  his  place  as  Adjutant 
General,  and  while  at  Burlington  he  sent  his  commission  to 
the  President  of  Congress,  designing,  however,  to  remain  at 
headquarters  as  a  volunteer  aid;  but  upon  receiving  an  urgent 
appeal  from  Washington  at  midnight  of  December  1st,  for 
him  to  withhold  his  resignation,  he  dispatched  a  messenger  to 
recall  the  commission,  which  was  effected. 

While  Washington  was  moving  upon  Trenton,  Reed  was 
left  with  Cadwalader,  with  orders  to  cross  and  cooperate  with 
his  chief.  The  current  of  the  river  and  the  floating  ice,  pre- 
vented the  main  body  from  passing;  but  Reed  with  two  or 
three  companions  succeeded  in  getting  over,  and  by  his  activity 
kept  the  Commander  well  informed  of  the  position  and  num- 
bers of  the  enemy,  and  gave  most  excellent  and  urgent  advice 
in  the  movements  upon  Princeton. 

Recognizing  Reed's  enterprise,  skill,  and  daring  in  the 
management  of  affairs,  and  being  now  apprised  of  his  deter- 
mination to  resign  the  office  of  Adjutant  General,  Washington 
was  desirous  of  securing  his  services  as  leader  of  cavalry. 
In  a  communication  addressed,  on  27th  of  January,  1777,  to 
Congress,  recommending  the  appointment  of  Brigadier  Gen- 
erals, he  says :  "I  shall  also  beg  leave  to  recommend  Colonel 
Reed  to  the  command  of  the  horse,  as  a  person  in  my  opinion 
in  every  way  qualified ;  for  he  is  extremely  active  and  enter- 
prising, many  signal  proofs  of  which  he  has  given  during  this 
campaign."  In  compliance  with  this  recommendation,  Con- 
gress elected  him  a  Brigadier,  and  Washington  in  communi- 
cating the  fact  to  him,  said  :.  "  Congress  having  empowered 
me  by  a  resolve,  transmitted  this  morning,  to  assign  one  of 


222     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

the  generals  already  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  light 
horse,  I  mean  that  you  should  act  in  that  line,  if  agreeable  to 
you,  and  I  wish  you  in  that  case  to  repair  to  camp  as  soon  as 
you  can."  Two  weeks  later,  on  the  14th  of  June,  finding 
that  Reed  hesitated,  he  again  wrote,  saying :  "  I  sincerely 
wish  that  you  may  accept  the  appointment  of  Congress,  arid 
the  post  I  am  desirous  of  placing  you  in."  Notwithstanding 
these  repeated  solicitations  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  he 
felt  obliged,  for  private  reasons,  to  decline  the  appointment, 
though  he  decided  to  attach  himself  to  "Washington  as  a  vol- 
unteer aid  without  rank  or  pay.  Previous  to  the  action  of 
Congress  in  making  him  a  General,  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1777,  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  had  unanimously  ap- 
pointed him  the  first  Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony  under  the 
new  Constitution ;  but  this  office,  though  the  most  dignified 
and  honorable  in  the  Colony,  and  one  for  which  his  previous 
training  had  wrell  fitted  him,  he  also  declined.  On  the  14th  of 
September  following,  the  Assembly  electedL  him  a  delegate  to 
Congress,  in  place  of  Jonathan  B.  Smith,  who  had  resigned. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  not  having  yet  taken  his  seat  in 
that  body,  a  new  election  was  held,  at  which  he  was  again 
chosen.  On  the  25th  of  November,  Congress  appointed  him 
a  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  but  that  position  was  like- 
wise declined.  Early  in  1778,  Congress,  desirous  of  availing 
itself  of  his  knowledge  and  aptness  in  military  affairs,  made 
him  one  of  a  committee  to  visit  camp,  for  conference  with 
Washington  respecting" the  management  of  the  ensuing  cam- 
paign, and  to  concert  measures  for  the  greatest  efficiency  of  the 
army.  Of  this  committee,  Reed  was  chairman. 

At  the  State  election  held  in  October  he  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Assembly  by  the  city,  and  a  member  of  the 
Council  by  the  County  of  Philadelphia,  the  former  of  which 
offices  he  declined.  In  December  he  was  unanimously  elected 
in  joint  ballot,  President  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council, 
and  was  continued  for  three  years;  and  this  office  he  accepted, 
entering  at  once  upon  the  discharge  of  its  duties.  Near  the 
close  of  his  predecessor's  term,  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  Penn- 


JOSEPH  REED.  223 

sylvania  had  been  the  subject  of  discussion.  For  the  consum- 
mation of  this  just  and  humane  provision,  he  felt  the  deepest 
solicitude.  In  one  of  his  early  messages  to  the  Assembly,  he 
said ;  "  We  would  also  again  bring  into  your  view  a  plan  for 
the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  so  disgraceful  to  any  people, 
and  more  especially  to  those  who  have  been  contending  in 
the  great  cause  of  liberty  themselves,  and  upon  whom  Provi- 
dence has  bestowed  such  eminent  marks  of  its  favor  and  pro- 
tection. We  think  we  are  loudly  called  on  to  evince  our 
gratitude,  in  making  our  fellowmen  joint  heirs  with  us  in  the 
same  inestimable  blessings,  under  such  restrictions  and  regu- 
lations as  will  not  injure  the  community,  and  will  impercep- 
tibly enable  them  to  relish  and  improve  the  station  to  which 
they  will  be  advanced.  Honored  will  that  State  be,  in  the 
annals  of  history,  which  shall  first  abolish  this  violation  of 
the  rights  of  mankind,  and  the  memories  of  those  will  be 
held  in  grateful  and  everlasting  remembrance,  who  shall  pass 
the  law  to  restore  and  establish  the  rights  of  human  nature 
in  Pennsylvania."  *  The  great  act  of  justice  for  which  he  so 
earnestly  pleads  in  this  passage  of  his  message,  he  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  become  a  law  during  his  administration. 
The  new  Constitution  of  1776  had,  from  the  day  of  its  in- 
auguration, encountered  strong  opposition.  The  party  sup- 
porting it  were,  in  general,  the  friends  of  Congress,  and  of 
Independence.  Its  opponents  favored  conciliation  with  the 
Crown,  and  a  return  to  the  Proprietary  Government.  So 
strong  had  the  opposition  to  this  instrument  become,  as 
evinced  by  petitions  for  its  revisal,  that  the  Assembly  of  1778 
ordered  that  the  question  of  revisal  be  submitted  to  a  popular 
vote.  As  the  time  approached  for  applying  this  test,  the 
friends  of  the  Constitution,  who  were  especially  strong  in 
Philadelphia,  manifested  their  disapproval  of  the  measure 
by  numerously  signed  remonstrances.  It  was  held  to  be  par- 
ticularly impolitic  to  open  questions  of  state  policy,  and  thus 
awaken  the  acrimony  of  party  spirit,  while  the  struggle  for 
independence  was  yet  undecided.  These  remonstrances  had 
*  Memoirs  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  I.  p.  406. 


224      PRESIDENTS  OF  TEE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

such  weight  with  the  Assembly  as  to  induce  it  to  repeal  the 
act  for  taking  the  popular  voice,  and  the  constitution  was 
permitted  to  remain  unaltered  until  long  after  the  War  for 
Independence  was  ended,  and  a  stable  government  for  the 
nation  had  been  established. 

Benedict  Arnold,  who  had  been  assigned  to  military  com- 
mand in  Philadelphia,  by  General  Washington,  immediately 
after  its  evacuation  by  the  British,  early  in  the  summer  of 
1778,  had,  by  his  alleged  violations  of  official  duty,  fallen 
under  the  displeasure  of  the  council,  which  brought  charges 
against  him  that  were  presented  to  Congress.  It  appears  that 
Arnold,  on  assuming  command  in  the  city,  had  set  up  a  stylo 
of  living  of  unprecedented  extravagance.  He  rented  the 
house  of  Richard  Penn,  which  had  been  the  headquarters  of 
Sir  William  Howe,  and  was  afterwards  occupied  by  General 
Washington,  during  his  Presidency.  He  kept  liveried  ser- 
vants, and  a  coach  and  four.  He  married  for  his  second  wife, 
Margaret  Shippen,  the  youthful  and  accomplished  daughter 
of  Edward  Shippen,  afterwards  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  and 
a  Tory.  To  support  his  extravagant  way  of  life,  his  salary  as 
an  officer  was  entirely  insufficient.  To  secure  the  requisite 
means  he  had  prostituted  his  official  position.  Having  closed 
all  places  of  business  in  the  city,  he  allowed  his  minions  to 
trade,  charging  exorbitant  prices,  the  profits  of  which  he 
shared.  He  employed  the  transportation  of  the  army  for 
private  uses;  and  in  sundry  ways  defeated  the  ends  of  justice, 
thereby  securing  his  own  advantage.  Upon  these  and  other 
charges  Arnold  demanded  a  court-martial,  which  was  ac- 
corded; and  after  many  delays,  he  was  tried,  found  guilty  of 
a  part,  and  sentenced  to  be  reprimanded  by  the  Commander- 
in-chief.  This  result  exasperated  Arnold,  whose  temper  had 
been  previously  soured  by  his  failure  to  obtain  large  sums  of 
money  from  Congress,  in  payment  of  expenses  incurred  in 
the  Canada  campaign.  He  accordingly  resigned  his  commis- 
sion, and  immediately  commenced  a  correspondence  with 
officers  in  the  British  army,  with  the  purpose,  undoubtedly, 
of  having  his  revenge.  Major  Andre,  with  whom  he  subse- 


JOSEPH  REED.  225 

quently  planned  his  treachery  for  the  surrender  of  the  strong- 
hold at  "West  Point,  had,  during  the  winter  that  the  British 
occupied  Philadelphia,  been  on  intimate  terms  with  Miss 
Shippen,  whom  Arnold  married,  and  through  him  the  cor- 
respondence was  opened.  Thus  can  be  traced  the  ruin  of 
Arnold  —  a  name  at  the  mention  of  which  every  breast  is 
filled  with  loathing  —  to  a  luxurious  and  extravagant  way 
of  life,  a  cause  which  has  brought  many  a  man  since  to 
destruction. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  charges  against  Arnold,  Reed,  as 
President  of  the  Council,  took  an  active  part,  and  conse- 
quently incurred  the  odium  of  the  friends  of  the  traitor. 
Actuated  by  revengeful  feelings,  charges  were  brought  against 
Reed  of  having  been  approached  by  emissaries  of  the  British 
Government,  with  the  offer  of  a  bribe,  to  use  his  influence 
for  a  reconciliation  with  the  mother  country ;  and  the  con- 
versation of  Mrs.  Ferguson,  through  whom  the  proposition 
had  been  conveyed,  with  the  Agent  of  the  Crown,  was  pub- 
lished. The  history  of  this  event  is  well  known. 

In  February,  1778,  Lord  North,  the  British  Premier,  pro- 
posed the  total  abolition  of  all  taxes,  of  whatever  kind,  of 
which  the  Americans  had  complained,  and  the  appointment 
of  Commissioners  to  negotiate  terms  of  peace.  Grown  sick 
of  war,  vastly  expensive  in  blood  and  treasure,  the  English 
people  demanded  this  policy.  It  prevailed;  and  Earl  Carlisle, 
George  Johnstone,  and  William  Eden,  were  accordingly  ap- 
pointed. As  they  were  only  empowered  to  forgive  past 
offences,  and  conclude  peace  upon  the  old  basis  of  Colonial 
dependence  upon  the  British  Crown,  Congress  refused  to 
listen  to  them,  asserting  that  the  Americans  had  done  nothing 
that  needed  forgiveness,  that  they  would  listen  to  no  terms 
while  British  armies  remained  on  Colonial  soil  and  indepen- 
dence of  British  rule  was  denied.  Finding  that  no  negotia- 
tions of  a  public  nature  could  be  engaged  in,  the  bribing  of 
men  high  in  the  service  of  the  nation  was  attempted.  John- 
stone  had  been  the  bearer  of  private  letters  to  Reed  from  hia 
brother-in-law,  De  Bert,  in  England,  and  Reed  had,  out  of 
16 


226     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

politeness,  sent  the  bearer  a  letter  of  thanks,  showing  his 
missive  to  Washington,  and  having  the  latter's  approval  before 
sending  it.  Presuming  upon  this  act  of  civility,  Johnstone, 
in  a  conversation  with  Mrs.  Ferguson  upon  the  horrors  of  the 
conflict,  expressed  his  desire  to  engage  Reed  in  securing  a 
pacification,  and  that  if  he  consented,  ten  thousand  guineas, 
and  the  best  oifice  in  the  Province,  would  be  at  his  disposal. 
This  he  desired  Mrs.  Ferguson  would  communicate  to  Reed. 
The  reply  of  the  latter,  on  hearing  this  disgraceful  proposition, 
was  worthy  of  the  noblest  patriotism.  "  My  influence  is  but 
small;  but  were  it  as  great  as  Governor  Johnstone  would  insin- 
uate, the  King  of  Great  Britain  has  nothing  in  his  gift  that  would 
tempt  me." 

Upon  the  return  of  the  loyal  inhabitants  to  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  after  the  departure  of  the  enemy,  the  feeling 
against  the  Tories,  who  had  remained  aiding  and  abetting 
them,  was  very  bitter,  and  many  prosecutions  for  treason  were 
commenced.  The  action  of  the  committee  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  conduct  these  proceedings,  was  not  so  summary  as 
the  populace  desired,  and  the  feeling  of  the  militia,  princi- 
pally that  of  the  privates,  was  wrought  to  such  a  pitch  that 
acts  of  violence  were  attempted  against  some  of  the  most  es- 
teemed citizens;  especially  those  lawyers  who  had  defended 
the  Tories  in  court,  embracing  such  men  as  Robert  Morris, 
and  James  Wilson,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence. To  elude  the  riotersj  many  took  refuge  in  Wilson's 
house.  The  rabble  in  passing  fired  upon  it,  and  shots  were 
given  in  return,  by  which  one  was  killed  and  several  wounded. 
In  the  midst  of  these  proceedings  the  President,  mounted, 
appeared  with  a  squadron  of  the  City  Troop,  and  dispersed 
the  rioters,  taking  some  of  the  leaders  into  custody. 

The  Academy  and  College  of  Philadelphia  was  a  subject 
of  legislation  during  this  administration.  The  Provost,  Dr. 
Smith,  and  some  of  the  Professors  and  trustees,  were  believed 
to  be  hostile  to  Independence.  The  charter  required  an  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain.  By  act  of  the 
trustees,  of  the  14th  of  June,  1764,  it  was  alleged  that  they 


JOSEPH  REED.  227 

had  "  departed  from  the  plan  of  the  original  founders,  and 
narrowed  the  foundation  of  the  said  institution."  After  due 
inquiry  into  the  facts  by  a  committee  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose, an  act  was  passed  on  the  27th  of  November,  1779,  abro- 
gating its  former  charter,  removing  its  instructors  and  officers, 
and  vesting  its  property  in  a  new  board,  granting  an  endow- 
ment from  confiscated  estates,  yielding  an  annual  income  of 
fifteen  thousand  pounds.  The  new  board  of  trustees  was 
composed  of  three  classes,  ex-officio  members  to  the  number 
of  six,  a  like  number  of  clergymen  of  as  many  different  de- 
nominations, and  thirteen  citizens  selected  on  account  of  their 
devotion  to  liberal  learning.  The  name  of  the  institution 
was  changed  to  that  of  the  "  University  of  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania." 

At  the  urgent  request  of  Washington,  President  Reed  was 
invested,  in  1780,  with  extraordinary  powers.  The  want  of 
energy  in  the  action  of  the  several  State  governments  in  sup- 
plying troops  and  the  means  of  prosecuting  the  war  in  emer- 
gencies prompted  to  this  action.  In  writing  to  Reed  upon 
this  subject,  Washington  said  :  "  This  is  a  decisive  moment; 
one  of  the  most,  I  will  go  further,  and  say,  the  most  important 
America  has  seen.  The  Court  of  France  has  made  a  glorious 
effort  for  our  deliverance,  and  if  we  disappoint  its  intentions 
by  our  supineness,  we  must  become  contemptible  in  the  eyes 
of  all  mankind,  nor  can  we  after  that  venture  to  confide  that 
our  allies  will  persist  in  an  attempt  to  establish  what,  it  will 
appear,  we  want  inclination  or  ability  to  assist  them  in." 

The  extraordinary  authority  bestowed  was  wisely  and  pru- 
dently exercised.  Indeed,  the  influence  of  the  President  with 
the  militia  was  all-powerful.  For,  when,  in  the  winter  of 
1780,  the  soldiers  of  the  Pennsylvania  line  under  General 
Wayne,  poorly  clothed,  badly  fed,  and  worse  paid,  kept  be- 
yond their  period  of  enlistment  by  a  most  disingenuous  in- 
terpretation of  language,*  revolted  and  commenced  the 
niarrh  under  non-commissioned  officers  with  arms  in  their 

*  "  For  three  years  or  the  war,"  was  interpreted  to  mean  as  much  longer  than 
three  years  as  the  war  should  last,  whereas  three  years  was  clearly  intended  as 
the  maximum  term. 


228     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

hands  to  Philadelphia,  to  demand  redress  from  Congress,  and 
it  was  told  to  them  that  President  Reed  was  on  his  way  to 
meet  them,  they  halted  in  their  mad  course,  and  received 
him  with  tokens  of  the  utmost  respect  and  veneration. 
Terms  of  pacification  were  speedily  arranged  by  which  those 
entitled  to  discharge  were  relieved,  and  the  remainder  re- 
turned to  duty. 

Just  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  President,  two  emissaries 
of  the  enemy  came  post-haste  to  the  disaffected  soldiers,  hold- 
ing out  strong  inducements  for  continuing  the  revolt.  The 
mutineers  spurned  to  listen,  and  handed  them  over  to  the 
American  officers  as  spies,  by  whom  they  were  tried  and  exe- 
cuted at  the  next  cross-roads.  The  two  sergeants  who  had 
arrested  them  were  offered  a  reward  of  fifty  guineas ;  but 
they  would  not  accept  it,  alleging  that  they  had  acted  under 
the  ordero  of  the  Board  of  Sergeants  in  command.  A  hun- 
dred guineas  were  then  offered  the  latter.  Their  answer  was 
worthy  of  Spartan  virtue :  "  It  was  not  for  the  sake,  or  through 
any  expectation  of  reward,  but  for  the  love  of  our  country, 
that  we  sent  the  spies  immediately  to  General  Wayne ;  we 
therefore  do  not  consider  ourselves  entitled  to  any  other  re- 
ward but  the  love  of  our  country,  and  do  jointly  agree  to 
accept  of  no  other." 

When  President  Reed  approached  the  mutineers,  he  was 
uncertain  in  what  temper  they  might  be.  It  was  deemed  im- 
prudent for  him  to  go  among  them,  lest  in  their  exasperated 
state  of  mind  some  indiscreet  ones  should  do  him  violence. 
But  he  determined  to  trust  himself  implicitly  among  them, 
and  wrote  to  the  Executive  Council :  "  I  have  but  one  life  to 
lose,  and  my  country  has  the  first  claim  to  it."  He  after- 
wards took  the  field  in  person,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  militia 
called  out  for  special  service.  The  camp  was  established  at 
Trenton,  and  here  he  carefully  organized  and  trained  the  ivw 
recruits  with  the  patience  and  industry  of  a  subaltern. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  as  President  of  the 
Council,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  the  law  in  Philadelphia. 
Among  the  causes  in  which  he  was  concerned  at  this  period 


JOSEPH  REED.  229 

was  one  in  the  decision  of  which  the  State  of  Pennsylvania 
was  deeply  interested.  The  State  of  Connecticut  had  long 
before  laid  claim  to  a  vast  section  of  land  known  as  the 
Wyoming  Territory,  and  had  sent  emigrants  to  settle  it. 
Frequent  attempts  had  been  made  to  drive  these  settlers  out 
by  force,  as  well  as  by  peaceful  arbitration,  which  had  proved 
unavailing.  Congress  now  appointed  a  commission,  of  which 
Reed  was  one,  to  make  a  final  decision.  The  commission 
met  at  Trenton.  The  argument  of  Reed  occupied  six  hours 
in  its  delivery,  and  was  an  exhaustive  and  masterly  statement 
of  the  case.  The  result  was  a  decision  in  favor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, thus  preserving  the  territory  as  acquired  by  Penn,  intact. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Reed's  retirement  from  the  Presidency,  his 
wife,  a  most  estimable  woman,  was  removed  by  death.  Her 
loss  was  deeply  felt,  and  it  was  not  long  before  his  own  system 
began  to  give  tokens  of  decay.  He  visited  England,  hoping 
that  a  sea-voyage  and  change  of  scene  and  climate  might 
restore  him  to  soundness ;  but  he  found  little  relief,  and  after 
an  absence  of  a  few  months  he  returned  in  September,  1784. 
In  the  November  following,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  Con- 
gress, but  he  never  took  his  seat.  The  disease  which  had 
fastened  upon  him,  pursued  him  still,  and  after  a  painful  ill- 
ness of  two  months,  he  breathed  his  last  on  the  5th  of  March, 
1785,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-four,  literally  worn  out  in  the 
service  of  his  country. 

Mr.  Reed's  mind  was  one  of  remarkable  activity  and  power. 
His  scholarly  attainments,  his  acuteness  of  perception,  and 
his  kind  and  affable  manners  fitted  him  for  great  usefulness 
in  the  way  of  life  which  he  was  called  to  tread.  The  high 
estimate  which  "Washington  placed  upon  his  capacity,  and  his 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  his  country,  is  seen  in  the  selection 
of  him  to  lead  the  cavalry  in  one  of  the  most  active  and  try- 
ing periods  of  the  American  war,  and  the  repeated  solicita- 
tions for  him  to  accept  the  position.  At  his  dying  hour  he 
said :  "  My  situation  in  life  has  made  me  an  object  of  much 
envy,  calumny,  and  reproach ;  I,  therefore,  on  this  solemn 
occasion,  declaro  that  any  charge  of  infidelity  to  my  country. 


230     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

correspondence  with  the  enemy,  injustice  to  the  state  or  indi- 
viduals, which  has  been  made  against  me,  is  false."  A  life 
so  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  country,  from  its  opening  to 
its  closing  scenes,  will  he  little  affected  by  the  voice  of  detrac- 
tion, and  the  best  answer  to  the  cavils  of  the  traducer  is  the 
great  life-work  that  he  accomplished,  which  we  have  endea- 
vored briefly  to  sketch. 


WILLIAM  MOORE, 

/ 

PRESIDENT  OP  THE  SUPREME   EXECUTIVE   COUNCI.-., 

November  14,  1781,  to  October  8,  1782. 

WILLIAM  MOORE,  who,  from  the  18th  of  October,  1779, 
had  been  Vice-President  of  the  Council,  was  unani- 
mously elected  President  to  succeed  Joseph  Reed.  He  had 
been  a  merchant,  and  was  a  man  of  great  energy  of  charac- 
ter, possessing  the  warm  regard  and  confidence  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  He  was  an  active  and  steadfast  patriot,  and  at  that 
period  in  the  progress  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  when  many 
were  despondent  and  would  have  gladly  given  up  the  contest, 
such  a  man  as  he  was  needed  at  the  helm  of  State  to  inspire 
confidence  and  preserve  the  public  integrity. 

The  period  just  previous  to  that  during  which  Mr.  Moore 
was  Governor  was  one  of  great  monetary  distress.  The  war 
had  been  a  long  and  wasting  one,  and  the  colonists,  when 
compared  with  the  nations  of  Continental  Europe,  were  very 
poor.  Bills  of  credit  had  been  issued  to  such  an  enormous 
extent  that  they  had  depreciated  far  beyond  any  known  pre- 
cedent. There  appears  on  the  minutes  of  the  Council  of 
November  20,  1780,  a  record  of  settlement  of  William 
Moore's  salary  for  one  year  as  Vice-President,  that  illustrates 
the  extent  to  which  at  that  time  the  currency  had  beerj 
reduced.  It  is  as  follows:  "  Dr.  The  State  of  Pennsylvania 
with  Honorable  William  Moore,  Esq.  To  amount  of  one 
year's  salary,  at  £600  per  annum,  or  1200  bushels  of  wheat 
at  £20  Continental,  £24,000."  *  Then  follow  payments  at 
various  dates  of  sundry  sums  to  the  amount  of  £13,000,  and 
a  record  of  an  order  drawn  at  that  date  for  the  balance  of 
£11,000.  Thus  had  the  moderate  salary  of  £600  a  year 

*  Pennsylvania  Archives,  Vol.  III.  pp.  511-12. 

231 


232      PRESIDENTS  OF  TEE  SUTREME  COUNCIL. 

grown  to  the  enormous  one  of  £24,000  by  a  very  simple 
method.  The  authorities  were  sadly  in  arrears  in  paying 
even  in  this  almost  worthless  medium.  The  troops  were  in 
some  eases  in  open  mutiny,  and  the  army  seemed  on  the  eve 
of  breaking  up.  At  this  juncture  Robert  Moms,  a  merchant 
of  Philadelphia,  and  one  of  the  foremost  of  the  patriots,  a 
friend  and  associate  of  Moore,  was  appointed  by  Congress 
Secretary  of  Finance,  and  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  first 
National  Bank  established  in  the  United  States.  It  was 
known  as  the  Bank  of  North  America,  and  was  located  in 
Philadelphia.  Through  the  skilful  management  of  Morris, 
aided  by  wealthy  citizens  of  Pennsylvania,  the  credit  of  the 
country  was  revived,  and  the  war  was  brought  to  a  successful 
issue.  In  the  winter  of  1776,  when  the  time  of  the  militia 
from  several  of  the  States  had  expired,  and  they  were  about 
to  disband,  Washington  induced  them  to  remain  in  the  field 
by  the  offer  of  a  bounty.  The  day  of  re -enlistment  was 
drawing  near,  and  the  Commander-in-chief  was  without  the 
money  necessary  to  meet  his  bounty  engagement.  It  was 
useless  to  apply  to  Congress,  for  it  had  no  funds.  In  this 
emergency  Washington  made  an  urgent  appeal  to  Robert 
Morris.  The  sum  needed  was  large,  and  it  must  be  in  specie. 
Morris  is  represented  as  leaving  his  counting-house  in  a 
depressed  spirit,  unusual  to  him.  On  his  way  he  met  a 
wealthy  Quaker,  to  whom  he  made  known  his  wants.  "  Rob- 
ert, what  security  canst  thou  give  ! "  asked  the  Quaker.  "  My 
note  and  rny  honor,"  promptly  replied  Morris.  "  Thou  shalt 
have  it,"  was  the  answer;  and  the  next  morning  Morris 
wrote  to  Washington  :  "  I  was  up  early  this  morning  to  dis- 
patch a  supply  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  your  Excellency. 
It  gives  me  great  pleasure  that  you  have  engaged  the  troops 
to  continue ;  and  if  further  occasional  supplies  of  money  are 
necessary,  you  may  depend  on  my  exertions  either  in  a  public 
or  private  capacity."  *  It  was  thus  that  Pennsylvania  in  every 
stage  of  the  war  aided  the  patriot  cause,  not  only  by  sending 
her  soldiers  to  the  field,  but  by  furnishing  the  sinews  of  war. 
*  Lossing'8  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution,  Vol.  II.  p.  25. 


WILLIAM  MOORE.  233 

Before  the  year  for  which  Governor  Moore  was  elected 
President  had  expired,  the  period  of  three  years  during 
which  he  had  been  a  Councillor  was  at  an  end,  and  he  was 
ohliged,  on  account  of  the  limitation  fixed  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, to  retire,  and  hence  could  not  be  a  candidate  for  re- 
election. In  February,  1784,  he  was  elected  a  director  of 
the  Bank  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  July  of  that  year  we  find 
him  acting  as  chairman  of  a  meeting  of  citizens  of  Philadel- 
phia, convened  to  take  measures  for  placing  the  public  debts 
upon  a  permanent  foundation.  In  October  following,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Assembly  from  Philadelphia.  He 
died  in  1793. 

Mr.  Moore  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Thomas  Lloyd  — 
the  other  daughter  of  Mr.  Lloyd,  Susanna;  having  married 
Thomas  Wharton,  Jr.,  first  President  of  the  Council.  The 
father  of  Mr.  Lloyd  was  Vice-President  of  the  Council 
under  William  Penn,  and  is  said  to  have  traced  his  ancestry 
back  to  Mirick  or  Meirig,  Prince  of  Demeca,  born  A.  D.  490. 
Three  children  were  the  issue  of  this  marriage.  A  son, 
Colonel  Thomas  Lloyd  Moore,  is  described  by  Griswold,  in 
his  American  Court,  as  "  a  military  gentleman  well  known  in 
the  gay  world  of  that  day."  He  enjoyed  the  friendship  and 
social  intimacy  of  the  family  of  President  Washington. 
He  married  Sarah  Stamper,  and  their  only  daughter,  Eliza, 
became  the  consort  of  Richard  Willing,  of  Philadelphia,  a 
family  which  figured  largely  in  the  best  society  of  that  day. 
Elizabeth,  the  only  daughter  of  President  Moore,  married 
the  Marquis  de  Marbois,  French  Charge  d' Affaires  for  a  period 
of  six  years  to  the  United  States,  and  who  negotiated  the 
treaty  for  the  cession  of  Louisiana.  Their  only  child,  Marie 
Ann  Sophie,  married  the  Duke  de  Plaisance,  son  of  Le  Brun, 
one  of  Napol'eon's  colleagues  in  the  Consulate.  They  resided 
for  a  time  in  Greece,  where  the  Duchess,  who  survived  her 
husband,  died  intestate,  and  a  large  estate,  after  a  suit  in  the 
French  courts,  was  decreed  to  the  heirs  of  Richard  and  Eliza 
Willing.  President  Moore's  third  child  was  Robert  Kearney 
Moore. 


JOHN  DICKINSON, 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE   SUPREME   EXECUTIVE   COUNCIL, 

November  7,  1782,  to  October  18,  1785. 

JOHN  DICKINSON,  the  fourth  President  of  the  Council, 
was  born  in  Maryland,  on  the  13th  of  November,  1732. 
His  father,  Samuel  Dickinson,  was  a  man  of  considerable 
fortune,  possessed  of  a  strong  mind  and  liberal  views.  He 
sent  his  two  eldest  sous,  by  a  first  marriage,  to  England  to 
be  educated,  who  both  died  before  completing  their  studies. 
For  his  second  wife  he  married  Mary  Cadwalader,  descended 
from  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  Pennsylvania.  Of  this 
marriage,  John,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  the  eldest- 
born.  Sorrowful  at  the  early  death  of  his  two  children 
in  a  foreign  land,  the  father  determined  that  this  one  should 
be  educated  in  the  Colonies,  and  he  was  placed  under  the 
tuition  of  an  eminent  scholar,  Mr.  Kilen,  subsequently  Chan- 
cellor of  the  State.  A  few  years  after  the  son's  birth,  the 
father  removed  to  his  estate  in  Dover,  Delaware,  where  he 
became  the  first  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

Having  completed  his  academic  course,  he  commenced  the 
reading  of  the  law  in  the  office  of  John  Mowland,  Esq.,  of 
Philadelphia,  and  afterwards  visited  England,  where  for  three 
years  he  prosecuted  his  legal  studies  in  the  Temple  with 
great  assiduity  and  singular  profit.  Well  grounded  in  the 
elements  of  his  chosen  profession,  and  thoroughly  imbued 
with  its  spirit,  he  returned  to  America,  and  commenced  its 
practice  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  at  once  taking  rank  as 
one  of  the  most  erudite  and  scholarly  members  of  a  bar 
which  at  that  early  day  had  become  renowned. 

234 


.       JOHN  DICKINSON.  235 

Native  dignity  and  worth,  aided  by  careful  culture,  made 
him  a  fit  instrument  in  fashioning  the  civil  polity  of  a  new 
and  rising  State,  and  fortune  favored  his  transfer  from  the 
arena  of  the  law  to  the  broader  field  of  statesmanship.  In 
1764  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Colonial  Assembly. 
For  several  years  previous,  a  bitter  controversy  had  been  in 
progress  between  the  Proprietors  and  the  Assembly  respect- 
ing the  taxing  of  the  Proprietary  estates.  The  former 
claimed  exemption,  while  the  latter  as  resolutely  asserted  the 
right  to  tax.  No  money  bill  could  be  passed  without  the 
assent  of  the  Deputy  Governor,  and  he  being  subservient  to 
the  Proprietors,  legislation  was  often  at  a  stand-still,  while 
the  most  violent  controversies  were  maintained.  So  vexa- 
tious had  these  delays  finally  become,  that  the  Assembly  had 
decided  to  appeal  to  the  Crown  to  take  the  Colony  under  its 
immediate  control.  Dickinson,  upon  his  entrance  into  the 
Assembly,  opposed  this  change,  as  being  likely  to  involve 
the  Colony  in  greater  evils  than  those  of  which  complaint 
was  made ;  and  when  it  was  proposed  to  send  Dr.  Franklin 
as  the  agent  of  the  Assembly  to  England,  to  represent  their 
cause  at  court,  Dickinson  objected  to  his  appointment,  on  the 
ground  of  his  being  a  warm  partisan  of  the  project.  But 
the  troubles  were  of  so  long  standing,  and  there  being  no 
prospect  of  improvement,  the  resolution  asking  the  change 
was  carried,  and  Franklin  was  appointed.  The  conservative 
tendency  of  Mr.  Dickinson's  mind  was  clearly  manifested  in 
the  debates  upon  these  measures,  and  that  tendenc}r  he  pre- 
served to  the  close  of  a  life  singularly  devoted  to  weighty 
cares  and  responsibilities. 

The  feeling  of  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the  famous 
Stamp  Act  in  the  following  year  called  forth  vigorous 
remonstrances  against  it  from  nearly  all  the  Colonies, 
and  a  proposition  for  a  Congress  of  delegates  to  concert 
measures  for  opposing  it.  To  this  Congress,  which  met  at 
New  York  in  October,  Messrs.  Dickinson,  Fox,  Bryan,  and 
Morton  were  appointed  delegates  from  Pennsylvania,  and 
full  instructions  were  given  by  the  Assembly  for  their 


236      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

guidance.  They  were  to  assert  the  constitutional  rights  of 
the  Colony  firmly,  but  were  enjoined  "to  frame  their  ad- 
dresses in  respectful  terms."  Their  instructions  are  concluded 
in  the  following  strain  :  "  That  the  Assembly  deem  it  their 
duty  thus  firmly  to  assert,  with  modesty  and  decency,  their 
inherent  rights,  that  posterity  may  learn  that  it  was  not  by 
their  consent  that  taxes  should  be  levied  upon  them  by  others 
than  their  representatives;  and  that  these  resolves  might 
bear  testimony  of  the  zeal  and  ardent  desire  of  the  present 
House  to  preserve  their  inestimable  rights,  which,  as  English- 
men, they  possessed  since  the  Province  was  settled,  and  to 
transmit  them  to  their  children."  *  The  petition  to  the  King 
and  the  memorial  to  Parliament,  issued  by  this  Congress, 
were  not  signed  by  Mr.  Dickinson,  as  he  was  called  home  by 
his  private  affairs  before  they  were  prepared,  but  with  the 
sentiments  of  those  papers  he  was  in  full  accord,  f 

The  wrongfulness  of  the  course  of  the  British  ministry 
Dickinson  could  distinctly  see.  He  believed  that,  if  he  could 
make  the  ruling  classes  of  England  see  that  error  as  clearly 
as  he  did,  they  could  not  fail,  if  actuated  by  reasonable 
and  just  views,  to  renounce  it.  He  accordingly  commenced 
a  series  of  essays,  conceived  in  a  temperate  but  most  lucid 
and  just  vein,  designed  to  enlighten  not  only  the  governing 
power,  but  the  popular  mind.  The  first  was  a  letter  addressed 
to  a  friend  in  England  by  a  gentleman  of  Philadelphia,  on 
the  late  regulations  of  the  Crown  for  the  government  of 
American  Colonies,  in  which  he  dwelt  especially  upon  the 
impolicy  of  the  scheme,  aside  from  its  injustice.  This  was 
soon  followed  by  a  pamphlet,  addressed  to  the  inhabitants  of 
Barbadoes,  who  had  animadverted,  in  an  address  to  the  King, 
upon  the  rebellious  spirit  of  the  Colonies,  in  comparison  with 
their  own  implicit  faith  and  obedience.  Dickinson  in  a  firm, 
manly  way  defended  the  cause  of  the  Colonies.  "  Let  any 
person,"  he  says,  "  consider  the  speeches  lately  made  in  Par- 
liament, and  the  resolutions  said  to  be  made  there,  notwith- 
standing the  convulsions  occasioned  through  the  British 

*  Gordon,  435.  t  Ibid.  442. 


JOHN  DICKINSON.  237 

Empire  by  the  opposition  of  their  Colonies  to  the  Stump 
Act,  and  he  may  easily  judge  what  would  have  been  their 
situation  in  case  they  had  bent  down  and  humbly  taken  up 
the  burden  prepared  for  them.  When  the  Exclusion  Bill 
was  depending  in  the  House  of  Commons,  Colonel  Titus 
made  this  short  speech :  '  Mr.  Speaker,  I  hear  a  lion  roaring 
in  the  lobby.  Shall  we  secure  the  door,  and  keep  him  there  ? 
or  shall  we  let  him  in,  to  try  if  we  can  turn  him  out  again  ?" 
Earnest  in  his  purpose  of  bringing  all  to  his  views,  Mr. 
Dickinson  wrote  and  published  a  series  of  papers,  in  1767, 
under  the  title  of  "  Letters  from  a  Farmer  in  Pennsylvania 
to  the  Inhabitants  of  the  British  Colonies,"  in  which  he 
labored  most  earnestly  to  show  the  unconstitutionality  and 
injustice  of  the  Royal  Government  in  its  recent  acts,  the 
great  danger  to  which  the  liberties  of  the  people  were  ex- 
posed, and  the  peril  of  unquestioning  submission  to  the 
smallest  injustice,  which,  once  fastened  upon  the  people, 
would  be  used  as  a  precedent  for  boundless  exactions.  The 
work  consisted  of  twelve  letters,  arid  among  the  special 
topics  treated  were  the  acts  for  suspending  legislation,  for 
granting  duties  on  paper,  and  the  invasion  of  the  prerogatives 
of  the  Colony  by  the  Ministry;  the  necessity,  in  free  States, 
of  ceaseless  vigilance,  and  the  peaceful  but  effective  resist- 
ance to  oppression.  They  appeared  at  a  time  when  the 
public  mind  was  greatly  agitated  upon  these  subjects,  and, 
though  written  in  a  plain,  argumentative  style,  they  became 
very  popular,  and  exerted  a  powerful  effect  in  uniting  the 
people  of  the  whole  country  in  a  common  cause,  and 
putting  into  the  mouths  of  all,  ready  and  affective  argu- 
ments upon  the  vital  questions  at  issue.  They  were  repub- 
lished  in  nearly  all  the  Colonies,  and  in  England,  where  Dr. 
Franklin  furnished  an  introduction.  They  were  translated 
into  French,  and  were  published  in  Paris.  The  writer  prob- 
ably had  no  idea  that  they  would  be  remembered  beyond  the 
generation  which  they  were  meant  to  influence ;  and  yet  he 
has  acquired  a  world -renowned  reputation  as  being  the 
author  of  the  "  Farmer's  Letters,"  and  they  are  likely  to  per- 


238      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

petuate  his  memory  when  all  else  that  he  did  or  said  is 
consigned  to  oblivion.  Void  of  the  rant  and  rhapsody  which 
were  too  common  at  this  period,  they  preserved  a  marked 
moderation  of  sentiment  and  style,  which  carried  all  the 
more  weight  at  home,  and  arrested  the  attention  of  the  most 
bitter  opponents  in  Great  Britain.  "We  have,"  he  says,  "  a 
generous,  humane,  and  sensible  nation  to  whom  we  may 
apply.  Let  us  behave  like  dutiful  children  who  have  received 
unmerited  blows  from  a  beloved  parent  Let  us  complain 
to  our  parents ;  but  let  our  complaints  speak  at  the  same 
time  the  language  of  aifection  and  veneration." 

At  a  meeting  held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  soon  after 
their  publication,  the  author  of  these  letters  received  the 
most  flattering  eulogies,  and  a  committee  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  John  Hancock,  Samuel  Adams,  Joseph  Warren, 
Dr.  Church,  and  John  Rae,  to  convey  to  him  the  sentiments 
of  the  meeting.  In  their  communication  they  say :  "  To 
such  eminent  worth  and  virtue,  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
of  Boston,  the  capital  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
in  full  town  meeting  assembled,  express  their  gratitude. 
Though  such  superior  merit  must  assuredly,  in  the  closest 
recess,  enjoy  the  divine  satisfaction  of  having  served  and 
possibly  saved  this  people ;  though  veiled  from  our  view, 
you  modestly  shun  the  deserved  applause  of  millions;  permit 
us  to  intrude  upon  your  retirement,  and  salute  the  Farmer 
as  the  friend  of  Americans,  and  the  common  benefactor  of 
mankind." 

"  In  May,  1778,  an  association  in  Philadelphia,  called  the 
Society  of  Fort  St.  David,  presented  an  address  to  Mr.  Dick- 
inson '  in  a  box  of  heart  of  oak.'  The  following  inscriptions 
were  done  upon  it  in  gold  letters.  On  the  top  was  repre- 
sented 1  he  cap  of  liberty  on  a  spear,  resting  on  a  cipher  of 
the  letters  J.  D.  Underneath  the  cipher,  in  a  semicircular 
label,  the  words  PRO  P ATRIA.  Around  the  whole,  the  follow- 
ing :  '  The  gift  of  the  Governor  and  Society  of  Fort  St.  David,  to 
the  author  of  THE  FARMER'S  LETTERS,  in  grateful  testimony  to  the 
very  endntnt  services  thereby  rendered  to  this  country,  1768.'  On 


JOHN  DICKINSON.  239 

the-  inside'  of  the  top  was  the  following  inscription :  '  The 
liberties  of  the  British  Colonies  in  America  asserted  with  Attic  elo- 
quence and  Roman  spirit  by  John  Dickinson,  Esq.,  barrister  at 
law:  "  * 

The  passage  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  excited  indignation 
among  the  great  body  of  the  people  in  all  the  Colonies, 
though  there  was  a  class  obstinately  upholding  every  act  of 
the  Royal  Government,  and  earnestly  opposing  any  expres- 
sion of  opinion  in  opposition  to  it,  lest  some  inconvenience 
or  loss  should  be  experienced.  To  harmonize  opinions  and 
bring  all  to  act  with  unanimity  throughout  the  Colonies, 
while  the  Royal  Governors  were  in  authority,  proved  diffi- 
cult. This  unanimity  was  finally  effected  through  commit- 
tees of  correspondence,  which  eventually  became  more 
powerful  than  governors  and  legislatures,  their  advice  being 
of  more  binding  force  than  the  most  formal  enactments.  A 
public  meeting  was  convened  on  the  18th  of  June,  1774,  in 
Philadelphia,  over  which  Messrs.  Dickinson  and  Willing 
presided,  at  which  it  was  resolved  to  be  expedient  to  call  a 
Continental  Congress,  and  that  a  committee  should  be  ap- 
pointed to  correspond  with  the  several  counties  of  the  Prov- 
ince and  with  the  other  Colonies.  Of  this  committee,  which 
consisted  of  forty-three  members,  Mr.  Dickinson  was  chair- 
man. 

In  the  letter  to  the  several  counties  they  said :  "  We  will 
not  offer  such  an  affront  to  the  well-known  public  spirit 
of  Pennsylvanians  as  to  question  your  zeal  on  the  present 
occasion.  Our  very  existence  in  the  rank  of  freemen,  and 
the  security  of  all  that  ought  to  be  dear  to  us,  evidently 
depend  on  our  conducting  this  great  cause  to  its  proper  issue 
by  firmness,  wisdom,  and  magnanimity.  It  is  with  pleasure 
that  we  assure  you  that  all  the  Colonies,  from  South  Carolina 
to  New  Hampshire,  are  animated  with  one  spirit  in  the  com- 
mon cause,  and  consider  this  as  the  proper  crisis  for  having 
our  differences  with  the  mother  country  brought  to  some 
certain  issue,  and  our  liberties  fixed  upon  a  permanent  founda 
*  Lossing's  Field  Book  of  the  [Revolution,  Vol.  I.  p.  477. 


240      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

tion.  This  desirable  end  can  only  be  accomplished  by  a  free 
communication  of  sentiments  and  a  sincere  and  fervent  re- 
gard for  the  interests  of  our  common  country."  It  was  by 
appeals  like  this,  in  which  we  recognize  the  pen  of  Mr. 
Dickinson,  that  the  people  were  aroused  and  moulded  in 
opinion  and  sentiment  to  united  indignation  and  oppos'tion 
to  British  policy.  Delegates  were  appointed  in  all  the  coun- 
ties, who  met  in  convention  at  Philadelphia,  and  passed 
spirited  resolutions,  setting  forth  their  allegiance  to  the  King, 
but  only  on  condition  that  his  ministry  adhered  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  English  Constitution.  A  series  of  instructions 
were  also  adopted  for  the  guidance  of  the  Assembly.  These 
were  drawn  by  Mr.  Dickinson.  After  enumeiating  the 
powers  of  the  sovereign  and  Parliament  which  wt  re  legiti- 
mate and  proper,  and  which  should  be  respected,  he  recounts 
the  unwarrantable  assumptions,  and  closes  in  these  memo- 
rable words :  "  The  power  claimed  by  Great  Britain,  and  the 
late  attempt  to  exercise  it  ove"r  these  Colonies,  present  to  our 
view  two  events,  one  of  which  must  inevitably  take  place. 
If  she  shall  continue  to  insist  on  her  pretensions,  either  the 
Colonies  will  sink  from  the  rank  of  freemen  into  the  class 
of  slaves,  overwhelmed  with  all  the  miseries  and  vices 
proved  by  the  history  of  mankind  to  be  inseparably  annexed 
to  that  deplorable  condition ;  or,  if  they  have  sense  and 
virtue  enough  to  exert  themselves  in  striving  to  avoid  this 
perdition,  they  must  be  involved  in  an  opposition  dreadful 
even  in  contemplation.  Honor,  justice,  and  humanity  call 
upon  us  to  hold  and  to  transmit  to  our  posterity  that  liberty 
which  we  received  from  our  ancestors.  It  is  not  our  duty  to 
leave  wealth  to  our  children,  but  it  is  our  duty  to  leave  lib- 
erty to  them.  No  infamy,  iniquity,  or  cruelty  can  exceed 
our  own,  if  we,  born  and  educated  in  a  country  of  freedom, 
entitled  to  its  blessings  and  knowing  their  value,  pusillani- 
mously  deserting  the  post  assigned  us  by  Divine  Providence, 
surrender  succeeding  generations  to  a  condition  of  wretched- 
ness from  which  no  human  efforts,  in  all  probability,  will  be 
sufficient  to  extricate  them  —  the  experience  of  all  States 


«  OilN  DICKINSON.  241 

mournfully  demonstrating  to  us  that,  when  arbitrary  power 
has  been  established  over  them,  even  the  wisest  and  bravest 
nations  that  ever  flourished  have,  in  a  few  years,  degenerated 
into  abject  and  wretched  vassals." 

This  paper  also  expressed  the  desire  that  the  Assembly 
would  appoint  delegates  to  a  general  Congress ;  and  the  pre- 
cise terms  of  settlement  with  the  mother  country,  which  this 
body  ought  to  labor  to  procure,  were  also  sketched.  The 
right  of  Parliament  to  legislate  for  the  Colonies,  enforced  by 
numerous  quotations  and  illustrations  from  the  writers  of 
antiquity,  was  also  treated  in  this  paper,  and  when  adopted 
by  the  convention  was  by  its  order  communicated  to  each  of 
the  other  Colonies. 

In  accordance  with  a  preconcerted  understanding,  the  dele- 
gates of  eleven  Colonies  met  in  Philadelphia  on  the  4th  of 
September,  1774,  in  Carpenter's  Hall.  The  early  sessions  of 
this  body  were  spent  in  impassioned  discourse  on  the  posture 
of  affairs,  in  which  the  eloquence  of  Patrick  Henry,  one  of 
the  delegates  from  Virginia,  rose  to  a  pitch  of  grandeur,  as 
described  by  his  hearers,  rarely  heard  among  men.  Several 
measures  of  protection  were  agreed  to  with  great  unanimity, 
and  addresses  to  the  King,  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
and  to  the  inhabitants  of  British  America,  were  ordered  to 
be  drawn,  and  suitable  committees  were  appointed  to  pre- 
pare them.  Mr.  Wirt,  the  biographer  of  Patrick  Henry,  has 
given  an  interesting  account  of  the  preparation  of  these 
papers.  "  The  splendor  of  their  [Henry,  Livingston,  Lee] 
debut  occasioned  Mr.  Henry  to  be  designated  by  his  commit- 
tee to  draw  the  petition  to  the  King,  with  which  they  were 
charged;  and  Mr.  Lee  was  charged  with  the  address  to  the 
people  of  England.  The  last  was  first  reported.  On  reading 
it,  great  disappointment  was  expressed  in  every  countenance, 
and  a  dead  silence  ensued  for  some  minutes.  At  length  it 
was  laid  on  the  table  for  perusal  and  consideration  till  the 
next  day ;  when  first  one  member  and  then  another  arose, 
and,  paying  some  faint  compliment  to  the  composition, 
observed  that  there  were  still  certain  considerations  not 
16 


242      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

expressed,  which  should  properly  find  a  place  in  it.  The 
address  was  therefore  committed  for  amendment,  and  one 
prepared  by  Mr.  Jay,  and  offered  by  Mr.  Livingston,  was 
adopted  with  scarcely  an  alteration.  Mr.  Henry's  draft  of  a 
petition  to  the  King  was  equally  unsuccessful,  and  was  re- 
committed for  amendment.  Mr.  John  Dickinson,  the  author 
of  the  Farmer's  Letters,  was  added  to  the  committee,  and  a 
new  draft,  prepared  by  him,  was  adopted.  This  is  one  of  the 
incidents  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Henry  to  which  an  allusion  was 
made  in  a  former  page,  when  it  was  observed  that,  not- 
withstanding the  wonderful  gifts  which  he  had  derived  from 
nature,  he  lived  himself  to  deplore  his  early  neglect  of  liter- 
ature. But  for  this  neglect,  that  imperishable  trophy  won 
by  the  pen  of  John  Dickinson  would  have  been  his;  and  the 
fame  of  his  genius,  instead  of  resting  on  tradition,  or  the 
short-lived  report  of  his  present  biographer,  would  have 
flourished  on  the  immortal  page  of  American  history."  * 

In  the  original  delegation  from  Pennsylvania  to  this  Con- 
gress, Mr.  Dickinson  was  not  included.  When  the  Assem- 
bly met  in  .October,  he  was  appointed  to  join  it,  and 
immediately  took  his  seat.  This  accounts  for  his  not  being 
at  first  put  upon  the  committee.  John  Adams  was  also  a 
member,  and  is  reported  to  have  assisted  Mr.  Henry  in  the 
composition  of  the  petition.  The  reason  why  the  original 
draft  did  not  prove  acceptable  was  not  that  it  said  too  little, 
but  too  much.  The  policy  which  Congress  had  determined 
to  pursue  was  one  of  reconciliation  with  the  mother  country, 
so  that,  if  a  struggle  should  ensue,  the  language  of  its  papers 
and  proceedings  should  not  show  it  to  have  been  the  aggres- 
sor. Hence  it  was  necessary  that  the  fiery  words  of  Henry 
and  Adams,  who  thought  that  there  would  be  no  reconcilia- 
tion, should  be  toned  down  by  the  pen  of  Dickinson,  who 
believed  that  pacification  was  possible,  and  who,  moreover, 
sincerely  desired  that  it  should  be  effected,  indeed  had  set  his 
heart  on  securing  it.  Therefore,  when  he  came  to  draw  the 
address,  he  pleaded  the  case  most  earnestly  upon  its  merits; 
*  Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  p  126. 


JOHN  DICKINSON.  243 

and  so  much  was  he  wrought  upon  by  the  justice  of  hia 
cause  that  he  did  not  conceive  that  failure  was  possible. 
The  petition  which  he  submitted  was  adopted,  and  he  was 
also  charged  with  drawing  an  address  to  the  people  of 
Canada.  Thus  were  two  of  the  most  important  papers  of 
this  Congress  prepared  by  Mr.  Dickinson.  In  Europe  they 
produced  a  profound  sensation.  The  Earl  of  Chatham,  in 
alluding  to  them  in  the  House  of  Lords,  said  :  "  When  your 
Lordships  look  at  the  papers  transmitted  to  us  from  America, 
when  you  consider  their  decency,  firmness,  and  wisdom,  you 
cannot  but  respect  their  cause,  and  wish  to  make  it  your 
own.  For  myself  I  must  declare  and  avow  that,  in  all  my 
reading,  and  study,  —  and  it  has  been  my  favorite  study ;  I 
have  read  Thucydides,  and  have  studied  and  admired  the 
master  States  of  the  world,  —  that  for  solidity  of  reasoning, 
force  of  sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion,  I  know  not  the 
people  or  senate  who,  in  such  a  complication  of  difficult 
circumstances,  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  delegates  of 
America  assembled  in  General  Congress  at  Philadelphia." 

Congress  had  adopted  these  papers  in  the  hope  that  the 
Government  of  Great  Britain  would  yield  what  was  asked, 
and  in  that  case  there  was  to  be  no  other  meeting ;  but  the 
Ministry  and  Parliament  gave  no  token  of  conciliation,  and 
Congress  again  assembled  in  May,  1775,  as  had  been  pro- 
vided if  concessions  were  not  granted.  The  delegation  from 
Pennsylvania  consisted  of  Messrs.  Dickinson,  Biddle,  Frank- 
lin, Wilson,  Willing,  Mifflin,  Humphries,  Morton,  and  Ross. 
Just  previous  to  the  meeting  of  Congress,  the  Battle  of  Lex- 
ington had  been  fought,  and  but  shortly  after  followed  Ticon- 
deroga  and  Bunker  Hill.  To  provide  for  effectual  resistance 
was  therefore  the  first  business.  An  army,  commanders,  and 
money  to  maintain  them  in  the  field,  were  provided.  Still 
the  hope  of  reconciliation  was  cherished;  and  to  manifest 
their  desire  for  it  and  the  sincerity  of  their  determination 
to  cease  resistance  when  their  grievances  were  redressed,  it 
was  agreed,  upon  the  earnest  appeal  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  to 
offer  another  petition  to  the  King.  Many  were  of  the  opinion 


244     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

that  it  would  prove  fruitless  and  would  be  spurned,  as  it  was. 
But,  willing  to  leave  no  means  untried  to  secure  what  they 
sought  by  peaceful  endeavors,  they  consented  to  join  in  the 
appeal.  Mr.  Dickinson  was  charged  with  preparing  it,  and 
it  was  composed  in  his  happiest  vein.  Upon  its  adoption, 
Richard  Penn  was  deputed  to  present  it  before  the  throne. 
Penn  lost  no  time  in  embarking,  and,  upon  landing,  trav- 
elled post-haste  to  London,  where  he  offered  it;  but  he 
was  told,  after  some  delay,  that  no  answer  would  be  made ; 
and  the  King,  in  his  speech  from  the  throne,  characterized  it 
as  designed  "  to  amuse,  by  vague  expressions  of  attachment 
to  the  parent  State,  and  the  strongest  protestations  of  loyalty 
to  their  King,  while  they  were  preparing  for  a  general  revolt, 
and  that  their  rebellious  war  was  manifestly  carried  on  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  an  independent  empire." 

There  were  parties  in  Parliament  who  looked  upon  this 
treatment  as  impolitic,  and  who  made  the  house  ring  with 
their  denunciation  ;  but  the  King  had  determined  to  subdue 
the  Americans,  and  the  only  concession  which  he  thought  of 
making  was  forgiveness  for  past  offences  when  the  Ameri- 
cans should  meekly  submit  to  his  will.  In  response  to  these 
sentiments,  Congress  issued  a  declaration  to  the  world  of  the 
causes  of  their  taking  up  arms,  in  which  they  said :  "  We 
are  reduced  to  the  alternative  of  choosing  an  unconditional 
submission  to  the  tyranny  of  irritated  ministers,  or  resistance 
by  force.  The  latter  is  our  choice.  We  have  counted  the 
cost  of  this  contest,  and  find  nothing  so  dreadful  as  voluntary 
slavery.  Honor,  justice,  and  humanity  forbid  us  tamely  to 
surrender  that  freedom  which  we  received  from  our  gallant 
ancestors,  and  which  our  innocent  posterity  have  a  right  to 
receive  from  us.  "We  cannot  endure  the  infamy  and  guilt  of 
resigning  succeeding  generations  to  that  wretchedness  which 
inevitably  awaits  them  if  we  basely  entail  hereditary  bondage 
upon  them." 

The  history  of  the  composition  of  this  paper  is  singular, 
and  illustrates  the  critical  nicety  with  which  the  members  of 
that  body  examined  and  passed  upon  their  utterances,  and 


JOHN  DICKINSON.  245 

how  jealous  they  were  of  their  honor  and  their  integrity  in 
the  preparation  of  their  state  papers.  The  intelligence  of 
the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill  had  scarcely  been  received,  when 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  an  accurate  account 
of  the  battle  and  of  those  which  preceded  it,  together  with 
the  reasons  which  actuated  the  Colonies  in  their  resistance* 
It  was  desirable  that  the  history  of  these  transactions  should 
be  truly  represented,  as  the  knowledge  of  them  was  flying 
upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  would  soon  be  echoing  in 
the  remotest  parts  of  the  civilized  world.  The  preparation 
of  this  manifesto  was  first  entrusted  to  John  Rutledge.  His 
draft  was  reported,  but  it  failed  to  satisfy  this  critical  Con- 
gress. It  was  referred  back  to  the  committee,  and  two  new 
members  were  added,  Thomas  Jefferson  and  John  Dickinson. 
Jefferson  next  tried  his  hand,  but  failed  to  satisfy  the  com- 
mittee, and  it  was  finally  entrusted  to  Mr.  Dickinson.  In 
plain  but  strong  and  effective  language  he  described  the 
aggressions  of  British  troops  in  America,  the  slaughter  of 
citizen  soldiery  on  the  fields  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill, 
and  so  pleaded  the  cause  for  which  they  were  contending  that 
it  could  not  fail  to  excite  the  sympathies  of  all  foreign  na- 
tions, and  bind  together,  in  indissoluble  bands,  the  hearts  of 
all  America.  In  concluding  his  statement  he  adopted  three 
or  four  paragraphs  from  Mr.  Jefferson's  draft,  full  of  the 
sounding  eloquence  which  characterized  the  latter's  Declara- 
tion drawn  a  year  later.  Mr.  Dickinson's  composition  was 
reported,  and  met  the  approval  of  Congress,  and  was,  on  the 
5th  of  July,  1775,  adopted.  It  was  sent  forth  to  the  world ; 
it  was  read  from  the  pulpit,  at  the  head  of  departing  regi- 
ments, and  in  the  field  where  stood  the  men  who  had  fought 
the  battles  which  it  described.  It  was  received  with  un- 
bounded enthusiasm.  When  read  at  the  head  of  General 
Putnam's  Division,  the  soldiers  "  shouted  in  three  huzzas  a 
loud  amen ! " 

The  Colonies  which  longest  clung  to  the  idea  of  concilia- 
tion, and  the  most  determinedly  resisted  Independence,  were 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland.  One  of  the  stout- 


246      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

est  leaders  in  that  resistance  in  Congress  was  Mr.  Dickinson. 
Others  opposed  his  arguments,  but  all  acknowledged  his 
integrity  and  the  sincerity  of  his  purposes.  "  He  was  so 
honest  a  man,"  says  Mr.  Jefferson,  "  and  so  able  a  one,  that 
ihe  was  greatly  indulged,  even  by  those  who  could  not  feel 
ihis  scruples.''  On  the  7th  of  June,  1776,  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  of  Virginia,  moved,  and  John  Adams,  of  Massachusetts, 
seconded,  in  Congress,  the  proposition  that  the  "United  Colo- 
nies are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States; 
and  that  all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State 
of  Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved."  Upon 
this  resolution,  which  was  the  real  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, the  principal  discussion  occurred.  Mr.  Dickinson 
opposed  it.  "  Prudence,"  he  said,  "  required  that  they  should 
not  abandon  certain  for  uncertain  objects.  Two  hundred 
years  of  happiness,  and  present  prosperity,  resulting  from 
English  laws  and  the  union  with  Great  Britain,  demonstrated 
that  America  could  be  wisely  governed  by  the  King  and 
Parliament.  .  .  .  Shall  the  transports  of  fury  sway  us  more 
than  the  experience  of  ages,  and  induce  us  to  destroy,  in  a 
moment  of  anger,  the  work  which  has  been  cemented  and 
tried  by  time  ?  .  .  .  Even  when  supported  by  the  powerful 
hand  of  England,  the  Colonists  had  abandoned  themselves  to 
discords,  and  sometimes  to  violence,  from  the  paltry  motives 
of  territorial  limits  and  distant  jurisdictions.  What,  then, 
might  they  not  expect  when  their  minds  were  heated,  am- 
bition roused,  and  arms  in  the  hands  of  all?" 

But  the  utmost  endeavors  of  Mr.  Dickinson  in  opposition 
to  the  Declaration  could  have  little  influence  in  staying  the 
tide  which  was  now  setting  in  its  favor  with  resistless  power. 
A  majority  of  the  Pennsylvania  delegation  sided  with  him ; 
but  when  he  discovered  that  the  resolution  would  be  carried 
by  a  large  majority,  he,  together  with  Mr.  Morris,  absented 
himself  from  the  session  when  the  final  vote  was  taken,  thus 
enabling  Pennsylvania  to  record  her  verdict  in  its  favor. 
The  formal  Declaration,  of  which  this  resolution  was  the  sub- 
stance, drawn  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  was  then  adopted ;  but  the 


JOHN  DICKINSON.  247 

name  of  Mr.  Dickinson  does  not  appear  as  one  of  the  sign- 
ers of  that  immortal  instrument.  For  his  opposition  to  this 
measure  he  lost  the  support  of  a  majority  of  the  Assembly 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  he  was  for  two  years  dropped  from  the 
public  councils  of  the  nation. 

But  when  the  Declaration  was  once  adopted,  and  the 
young  nation  girded  itself  for  a  mighty  struggle  with  the 
giant  parent  country,  Mr.  Dickinson  did  not  withhold  his 
influence  or  his  personal  aid,  but,  shouldering  his  musket,  he 
went  to  the  field  as  a  volunteer  private,  from  which  position 
he  rose  to  the  rank  of  a  brigadier-general  in  the  army.  The 
action  on  his  part  was  in  harmony  with  a  declaration  of 
principles  which  he  had  made  for  the  government  of  his  life. 
"  Two  rules,"  said  he,  "  I  have  laid  down  for  myself  through- 
out this  contest,  to  which  I  have  continually  adhered  and  still 
design  to  adhere :  First,  on  all  occasions  when  I  am  called 
upon  as  a  trustee  for  my  countrymen,  to  deliberate  on  ques- 
tions important  to  their  happiness,  disdaining  all  personal 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  a  suppression  of  my  real  sen- 
timents, and  defying  all  dangers  to  be  risked  by  a  declaration 
of  them,  openly  to  avow  them ;  and  secondly,  after  thus  dis- 
charging this  duty,  whenever  the  public  resolutions  are 
taken,  to  regard  them,  though  opposite  to  ruy  opinion,  as 
sacred,  because  they  lead  to  public  measures  in  which  the 
common  weal  must  be  interested,  and  to  join  in  supporting 
them  as  earnestly  as  if  my  voice  had  been  given  for  them. 
If  the  present  day  is  too  warm  for  me  to  be  calmly  judged, 
I  can  credit  my  country  for  justice  some  years  hence." 

In  April,  1779,  Mr.  Dickinson  was  unanimously  elected  to 
Congress  from  the  State  of  Delaware,  and  in  the  following 
month  he  was  again  busy  with  his  pen,  having  been  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  an  address  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States  on  the  duties  and  perils  of  the  hour.  Recruiting  was 
sluggish ;  the  army  was  ill  fed,  and  scarcely  paid  at  ail  ; 
the  currency  was  fearfully  depreciated,  and  discouragement 
was  everywhere  met.  To  arouse  the  people  to  a  sense  of 
patriotic  duty  at  this  dark  hour  was  the  aim  in  the  prepa 


248      PRESIDENTS  OF  TUE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

ration  of  this  paper.  Nobly  did  lie  acquit  himself  in  the 
important  trust,  challenging,  by  his  persuasive  power,  re 
newed  applause. 

In  1780,  Mr.  Dickinson  was  elected  to  represent  the  county 
of  New  Castle  in  the  Assembly  of  Delaware,  and  was  in  the 
same  year  unanimously  chosen  President  of  that  State.  Two 
years  later  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Supreme  Execu- 
tive Council  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  chosen  by  the  party 
which  favored  a  revision  of  the  Constitution  in  opposition  to 
Mr.  Porter.  During  his  administration  the  struggle  for  In- 
dependence was  maintained  in  the  northern  and  southern 
extremities  of  the  nation,  the  central  portion  being  little  dis- 
turbed. Arnold,  after  his  treason,  went  to  Virginia  as  a 
British  officer,  where  he  made  war  with  a  vengeful  hand.  Jn 
the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  active  operations  were  pursued 
with  varying  success,  the  Count  d'Estang  upon  the  coast 
again  lending  his  aid  to  the  American  cause.  In  Connecticut 
a  vexatious  warfare  was  also  kept  up.  Finally,  on  the  19th 
of  October,  1781,  the  British  army  under  Corawallis  surren- 
dered to  the  combined  naval  and  land  forces  of  France  and 
America,  and  the  long  struggle  was  substantially  at  an  end. 
In  the  prosecution  of  these  operations  the  powerful  aid  of 
Pennsylvania  was  at  no  time  wanting,  and  the  State  Govern- 
ment was  administered  in  such  a  way  as  to  uphold  the  hands 
of  the  central  power. 

Mr.  Dickinson  at  all  times  manifested  an  abiding  interest 
in  the  subject  of  liberal  education,  and  contributed  largely 
of  his  fortune  and  his  influence  to  the  establishment  of  the 
college  at  Carlisle,  the  charter  for  which  was  granted  during 
his  administration.  Happily  the  name  of  the  most  famous 
political  writer  of  that  period  is  perpetuated  in  this  noble 
institution.  "  In  memory  of  the  great  and  important  services 
rendered  to  his  country  by  his  Excellency,  John  Dickinson, 
Esq.,  President  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council,  and  in 
commemoration  of  his  very  liberal  donation  to  the  institu- 
tion, the  said  college  shall  be  forever  hereafter  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  DICKINSON  COLLEGE."  Mr.  Dickinson 


JOHN  DICKINSON.  249 

was  made  the  first  President  of  its  Board,  and  continued  to 
act  in  that  capacity  until  the  day  of  his  death.  Through  his 
influence  and  that  of  Benjamin  Rush,  Dr.  Nisbet,  a  Scotch 
divine  of  great  learning  and  ability,  was  induced  to  accept 
the  presidency  of  the  institution,  through  whom  a  foundation 
was  laid  for  giving  thorough  and  erudite  training. 

In  the  Convention  of  1789,  which  framed  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  over  which  Washington  presided, 
Mr.  Dickinson  was  a  member  from  the  State  of  Delaware. 
Schooled  in  the  early  government  of  the  Colonies,  a  chief 
actor  in  bringing  the  people  to  united  effort  against  the  en- 
croachments of  power,  and  in  drawing  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation, he  came  to  the  task  of  preparing  a  new  frame  of 
government  suited  to  the  nation  in  its  changed  condition, 
with  the  most  abundant  resources.  In  framing  that  instru- 
ment he  performed  a  most  important  part.  But  when  it 
came  to  be  promulgated,  though  it  bore  the  sanction  and  the 
great  name  of  the  Father  of  his  Country,  it  met  with  violent 
opposition.  In  supporting  it  and  urging  its  adoption,  no  pen 
was  more  busy  or  more  effective  than  that  of  Mr.  Dickinson. 
The  Letters  of  Fabius,  nine  in  number,  devoted  to  an  ex- 
position of  the  instrument  and  an  illustration  of  the  great 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  its  acceptance,  were  written 
by  him,  and  contributed  in  a  good  degree  to  allaying  oppo- 
sition and  winning  the  popular  mind. 

In  1792  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  convention  which  sat  for 
the  revision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Delaware, 
where,  as  would  be  anticipated,  he  exerted  an  overshadowing 
influence.  In  1797,  when  France  was  in  the  throes  of  revo- 
lution, Mr.  Dickinson  again  took  up  his  pen  to  plead  the 
inalienable  rights  of  man,  which  in  the  morning  of  life  he 
had  so  eloquently  advocated,  and  the  result  was  a  series  of 
letters  over  the  signature  of  Fabius,  which  attested  that  the 
fountains  of  patriotism  had  not  been  dried  by  age. 

John  Adams  visited  Mr.  Dickinson  at  his  country  seat  at 
Fair  Hill,  near  Philadelphia,  in  1774,  and  notices  the  beauti- 
ful prospect  of  the  city,  the  river,  and  the  country,  fine  gar- 


250     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL 

dens,  and  a  very  grand  library,  mostly  collected  by  his  father- 
in-law,  Mr.  Norris.  Mr.  Dickinson  he  describes  as 'a  very 
modest  man,  and  very  ingenuous  as  well  as  agreeable.  In 
personal  appearance,  says  Adams,  "  he  is  a  shadow ;  tall,  but 
slender  as  a  reed;  pale  as  ashes;  one  would  think  at  first 
sight  that  he  could  not  live  a  month ;  yet,  upon  a  more 
attentive  inspection,  he  looks  as  if  the  springs  of  life  were 
strong  enough  to  last  many  years." 

Mr.  Dickinson  married,  on  the  19th  of  July,  1770,  Mary 
Norris,  only  daughter  of  Isaac  Norris,  eminent  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Colony.  Two  daughters  survived  him.  lie 
died  at  "Wilmington,  Delaware,  where  he  had  taken  up  his 
residence,  on  the  14th  of  February,  1808,  aged  seventy-five 
years. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE   SUPREME   EXECUTIVE   COUNCIL, 

October  18,  1785,  to  October  14,  1788. 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  fifth  President  of  the  Supreme 
Council,  was  born  at  Boston  on  the  17th  of  January, 
1706.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  a  family  of  seventeen 
children,  by  two  marriages  —  seven  by  the  first  and  ten  by 
the  last  —  and  "was  the  youngest  son  of  the  youngest  son 
for  five  generations  back."  For  three  hundred  years  the 
family  had  lived  on  a  freehold  of  about  thirty  acres  in 
Ecton,  Northamptonshire,  England,  the  eldest  son  during 
that  whole  time  having  been  bred  to  the  business  of  a  smith, 
which  was  prosecuted  in  connection  with  that  of  the  farm. 
Josias,  the  father  of  Benjamin,  with  his  wife  and  three  chil- 
dren, emigrated  to  America  about  the  year  1682.  He  was 
induced  to  abandon  the  land,  where  for  so  long  a  period  the 
family  had  dwelt,  by  religious  persecution.  "  Conventicles 
being  at  that  time  prohibited,"  says  Dr.  Franklin,  in  that 
enchanting  piece  of  autobiography  which  he  has  left,  "  and 
frequently  disturbed,  some  considerable  persons  of  his  ac- 
quaintance determined  to  go  to  America,  where  they  hoped 
to  enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  my  father 
was  prevailed  on  to  accompany  them."  The  devise  which 
the  family  adopted  to  read  unmolested  the  Scriptures  was 
ingenious.  "  They  had  an  English  Bible,  and  to  conceal  it 
the  more  securely  they  conceived  the  project  of  fastening  it, 
open,  with  packthreads  across  the  leaves,  on  the  inside  of  the 
lid  of  the  close-stool.  When  my  great-grandfather  wished 
to  read  to  his  family,  he  reversed  the  lid  of  the  close-stool 


252      PRESIDENTS  OF  TEE  SUPREME  COUNCIL, 

upon  his  knees,  and  passed  the  leaves  from  one  side  to  tho 
other,  which  were  held  down  on  each  by  the  packthread. 
One  of  the  children  was  stationed  at  the  door  to  give  notice 
if  he  saw  the  proctor  (an  officer  of  the  spiritual  court)  make 
his  appearance.  In  that  case  the  lid  was  restored  to  its  place, 
with  the  Bible  concealed  under  it  as  before." 

The  mother  was  Abiah  Folger,  daughter  of  Peter  Folger, 
one  of  the  first  colonists  of  New  England,  of  whom  Cotton 
Mather,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  speaks  as  "  a  pious  and 
learned  Englishman."  Benjamin  was  put  to  a  grammar- 
school  at  the  age  of  eight,  being  destined  by  his  father  for 
the  Church ;  but  at  the  end  of  a  year  of  wonderful  progress, 
the  father,  overburdened  with  the  support  of  a  large  family, 
was  obliged  to  change  his  purpose,  and  removed  the  son  to 
a  school  for  writing  and  arithmetic,  preparatory  to  a  business 
life.  At  the  age  of  ten  he  was  called  home  to  assist  his 
father,  who  was  a  soap-boiler  and  tallow-chandler,  and  the 
education  obtained  during  this  brief  interval  of  less  than  two 
years  was  all  the  school  instruction  he  ever  received. 

Not  satisfied  with  this  occupation,  he  felt,  he  says,  a  strong 
inclination  for  a  sea  life;  but  his  father  set  his  face  against 
it.  After  suggesting  a  variety  of  occupations,  that  of  a 
printer  was  settled  upon,  and  he  passed  forever  from  the 
paternal  roof.  Of  the  excellent  qualities  of  his  parents  he 
everywhere  speaks  in  the  most  unqualified  terms.  "  My 
father  had  an  excellent  constitution,  was  of  a  middle  size,  but 
well  made  and  strong.  .  .  .  His  greatest  excellence  was  a 
sound  understanding  and  solid  judgment  in  matters  of  pru- 
dence, both  in  public  and  private  life.  .  .  .  My  mother  was 
likewise  possessed  of  an  excellent  constitution.  She  suckled 
all  her  ten  children,  and  I  never  heard  either  her  or  my 
father  complain  of  any  other  disorder  than  that  of  which 
they  died  —  my  father  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  and  my 
mother  at  eighty-five." 

Naturally  given  to  books,  by  great  industry  during  the 
intervals  of  the  hours  of  labor,  often  protracted  till  late  at 
night,  he  soon  acquired  a  great  fund  of  information,  which 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  253 

he  turned  to  account  by  composing  anonymous  articles  for  a 
newspaper  published  by  his  brother,  to  whom  he  was  ap- 
prenticed. By  chance,  some  of  his  writing  fell  into  the 
hands  of  his  father,  who  commended  the  sentiment,  the 
spelling,  and  pointing,  but  sharply  criticised  its  style.  The 
lesson  was  not  lost,  for  he  was  induced  to  give  greater  heed 
to  the  structure  and  finish  of  his  compositions,  using  with 
great  advantage  as  a  model  some  of  the  essays  of  Addison, 
which  he  chanced  to  find  in  an  odd  volume  of  the  Spectator. 

Dissatisfied  with  the  treatment  of  his  brother,  who  seems 
to  have  manifested  little  fraternal  affection,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enteen, without  giving  any  intimation  of  his  purpose  to  his 
friends,  he  left  Boston,  and  proceeded  to  New  York,  where 
he  sought  employment  of  William  Bradford.  Having  no 
place  for  him,  Bradford  recommended  him  to  his  son  in 
Philadelphia,  and  thither  he  proceeded.  He  has  himself 
given  a  most  graphic  account  of  his  first  entrance  into  that 
city ;  of  his  arrival  weary  and  hungry ;  of  the  purchase  of 
the  three  rolls,  and  his  wandering  through  the  streets  with 
one  under  each  arm,  eating  the  third ;  of  being  seen  and 
noticed,  as  he  passed  along,  by  Miss  Read,  whom  he  after- 
wards married;  of  his  entering  the  Quaker  meeting-house, 
and,  overcome  by  fatigue,  of  sleeping  till  all  had  departed ; 
and  of  his  employment  by  Keimer  as  a  journeyman  printer. 
Of  the  character  of  Keimer,  he  furnishes  a  very  good  inci- 
dent. Knowing  him  to  be  a  great  glutton,  he  induced 
him,  by  skilful  arguments,  to  adopt  a  purely  vegetable 
diet.  For  three  months  they  together  adhered  to  it.  "  I," 
he  says,  "continued  it  cheerfully;  but  poor  Keimer  suf- 
fered terribly.  Tired  of  the  project,  he  sighed  for  the 
flesh-pots  of  Egypt.  At  length  he  ordered  a  roast  pig, 
and  invited  me  and  two  of  our  female  acquaintances  to 
dine  with  him;  but  the  pig  being  ready  a  little  too  soon, 
he  could  not  resist  the  temptation,  and  ate  it  all  up  before 
we  arrived." 

It  was  in  the  year  1723,  during  the  administration  of  Sir 
William  Keith,  that  he  first  arrived  in  Philadelphia.  Through 


254     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

a  letter  written  to  a  brother-in-law,  Holmes,  at  New  Castle, 
the  Governor,  to  whom  it  was  shown,  at  once  conceived  a 
high  opinion  of  the  writer,  and,  upon  returning  to  Philadel- 
phia, sought  him  out,  showed  him  many  civilities,  and  con- 
cluded by  urging  him  to  set  up  in  business  for  himself, 
ottering  to  give  him  all  the  Government  printing,  and  to  fur- 
nish him  with  letters  of  credit  in  London  for  the  purchase 
of  the  necessary  outfit.  Keith  had  no  credit  there  for  him- 
self, much  less  for  others.  But  this,  Franklin  did  not  know, 
and,  relying  upon  his  sincerity,  was  induced  to  make  a 
voyage  to  England.  Finding  upon  his  arrival  that  he  had 
been  deceived,  and  that  the  Governor  was  noted  for  making 
promises  which  he  never  meant  to  fulfil,  he  sought  employ- 
ment as  a  printer,  and  for  a  year  and  a  half  worked  diligently 
at  his  trade,  writing  and  publishing,  in  the  mean  time,  a 
pamphlet  on  "Liberty  and  Necessity,  Pleasure  and  Pain,"  in 
answer  to  certain  passages  in  "  Woolaston's  Religion  of 
Nature." 

At  the  end  of  that  time  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and, 
after  working  awhile  with  his  old  employer,  Keimer,  com- 
menced business  on  his  own  account.  He  was  industrious, 
frugal,  temperate,  careful  of  his  credit,  and  prosperity  soon 
marked  his  every  step.  Of  his  moral  convictions  at  this 
period  he  says  :  "  I  was  at  last  convinced,  that  truth,  probity, 
and  sincerity  in  transactions  between  man  and  man  were  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  the  happiness  of  life ;  and  I  resolved 
from  that  moment,  and  wrote  the  resolution  in  my  journal, 
to  practise  them  as  long  as  I  lived."  And  of  his  business 
habits  he  says :  "  Thus,  before  I  entered  on  my  own  new 
career,  I  had  imbibed  solid  principles  and  a  character  of 
probity.  I  knew  their  value,  and  I  made  a  solemn  engage- 
ment with  myself  never  to  depart  from  them." 

At  about  this  time  Franklin  was  the  moving  spirit  in 
establishing  a  lyceum  or  debating  society,  called  the  Junto, 
in  which  each  member  was  obliged  to  propose  in  turn  some 
question  in  morality,  politics,  or  philosophy,  for  discussion, 
and  once  in  three  months  read  an  essay  of  his  own  compo- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  255 

sition.  It  served  Franklin  a  double  purpose-:  it  was  an  ex- 
cellent school  for  politics  and  philosophy,  a  week  being 
always  given  for  preparation,  and  it  procured  him  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  leading  young  men,  who  were  thus  inter- 
ested to  secure  for  him  whatever  business  came  in  their 
way.  In  searching  for  the  means  by  which  he  acquired  the 
character  of  a  wise  and  learned  man,  the  Junto  should  not  be 
overlooked,  for  here  he  not  only  attained  to  skill  in  speaking 
and  writing,  and  the  exact  information  necessary  to  perform 
his  part,  but  he  discovered  the  great  power  he  was  capable 
of  exerting  over  his  fellow-men. 

In  1729  he  purchased  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  which,  by 
his  skilful  management,  in  time  became  the  leading  paper  of 
the  Province.  The  question  of  a  re-issue  of  paper  money 
being  under  discussion  in  the  Assembly,  he  wrote  and  pub- 
lished a  pamphlet  entitled  A  Modest  Enquiry  into  the  Nature 
and -Necessity  of  Paper  Currency.  He  had  debated  the  ques- 
tion in  the  Junto,  and  was  master  of  the  subject.  His  view 
prevailed  in  the  Assembly.  Though  in  a  private  station,  his 
influence  began  thus  early  to  be  felt  in  legislation.  A  propo- 
sition was  made  by  Franklin,  in  the  Junto,  that  the  mem- 
bers should  bring  what  books  they  could  spare  to  the  room 
where  the  meetings  were  held,  that  they  might  be  convenient 
for  reference  during  their  discussions,  and  serve  the  purpose 
of  a  general  library;  but  this  plan  was  attended  with  incon- 
veniences and  was  soon  after  abandoned,  each  taking  away 
the  books  he  had  contributed.  Franklin  now  issued  pro- 
posals for  establishing  a  public  library.  Fifty  persons  at 
first  subscribed  each  forty  shillings,  and,  in  addition,  agreed 
to  pay  ten  shillings  annually.  The  number  increased,  and 
ten  years  later,  in  1742,  the  association  was  incorporated  as 
the  Library  Company  of  Philadelphia.  Thomas  Penn,  who 
was  most  given  to  literary  pursuits  of  any  of  the  sons  of 
William  Penn,  became  a  patron,  giving  money,  several  lots 
in  the  city  for  a  building,  and  a  large  tract  of  unimproved 
land  in  Bucks  County. 

In   1732,  Franklin   commenced   the  publication  of  Poor 


256      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

Richard's  Almanac,  which  was  continued  for  twenty-six  years, 
and  became  very  popular,  having  an  annual  sale  of  ten  thou- 
sand copies.  Its  chief  attraction  was  due  to  the  bits  of  wit 
and  wisdom  it  contained,  maxims  for  the  practice  of  industry 
and  economy,  thrusts  at  folly,  and  an  occasional  playful  ele- 
gance. In  the  last  number  was  published  a  collection  of  these 
sayings  in  the  form  of  an  harangue  to  the  people,  entitled  the 
Way  to  Wealth.  This  was  received  with  unbounded  satisfac- 
tion, and  the  sayings  of  Poor  Richard  were  in  everybody's 
mouth.  That  money  soon  after  became  plenty  in  Philadelphia 
was  attributed  to  the  practice  of  its  precepts.  It  was  pub- 
lished on  a  broad  sheet,  to  be  framed  for  use  and  adornment  to 
the  walls  of  dwellings.  Three  translations  of  it  were  made 
into  French,  and  it  was  published  in  modern  Greek.  The 
matter  is  often  rough  and  homely,  but  always  pointed,  the 
dullest  never  being  at  a  loss  to  apprehend  its  force.  "  Sloth," 
he  says,  "  by  bringing  on  diseases,  absolutely  shortens  Jife. 
Sloth,  like  rust,  consumes  faster  than  labor  wears ;  while  the 
key  often  turned  is  always  bright.  But  dost  thou  love  life  ? 
then  do  not  squander  time;  for  that  is  the  stuff  life  is  made 
of.  How  much  more  than  is  necessary  do  we  spend  in  sleep ! 
forgetting  that  the  sleeping  fox  catches  no  poultry,  and  that 
there  will  be  sleeping  enough  in  the  grave.  If  time  be  of 
all  things  the  most  precious,  wasting  time  must  be  the  great- 
est prodigality.  At  the  workingman's  house  hunger  looks 
in,  but  dares  not  enter.  Nor  will  the  bailiff  nor  the  consta- 
ble enter;  for  Industry  pays  debts,  but  Despair  increaseth 
them.  Diligence  is  the  mother  of  good  luck.  God  gives  all 
things  to  industry ;  then  plough  deep  while  sluggards  sleep, 
and  you  will  have  corn  to  sell  and  to  keep.  One  to-day  is 
worth  two  to-morrows.  If  you  were  a  servant,  would  you 
not  be  ashamed  that  a  good  master  should  catch  you  idle  ? 
Are  you,  then,  your  own  master  ?  be  ashamed  to  catch  your- 
self idle. 

I  never  saw  an  oft-removed  tree, 

Nor  yet  an  oft-removed  family, 

That  throve  so  well  as  one  that  settled  be. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  257 

Three  removes  are  as  bad  as  a  fire.  If  you  would  ha\  e  your 
business  done,  go ;  if  not,  send.  The  eye  of  the  master  will 
do  more  work  than  both  his  hands.  If  you  would  have  a 
faithful  servant,  and  one  that  you  like,  serve  yourself.  If  one 
knows  not  how  to  save  as  he  gets,  he  may  keep  his  nose  all 
his  life  to  the  grindstone,  and  die  not  worth  a  groat  at  last. 
A  fat  kitchen  makes  a  lean  will. 

Women  and  wine,  game  and  deceit, 

Make  the  wealth  small,  and  the  want  great. 

What  maintains  one  vice  would  bring  up  two  children.  A 
small  leak  will  sink  a  great  ship.  Fools  make  feasts,  and 
wise  men  eat  them.  Buy  what  thou  hast  no  need  of,  and 
ere  long  thou  slialt  sell  thy  necessaries.  At  a  great  penny- 
worth, pause  awhile.  Silk  and  satins,  scarlet  and  velvets  put 
out  the  kitchen  fire.  A  ploughman  on  his  legs  is  higher 
than  a  gentleman  on  his  knees.  Pride  is  as  loud  a  beggar  as 
want,  and  a  great  deal  more  saucy.  It  is  hard  for  an  empty 
sack  to  stand  upright.  Drink  water,  put  the  money  in  your 
pocket,  and  leave  the  dry  belly-ache  in  the  punch-bowl. 
Pride  breakfasted  with  Plenty,  dined  with  Poverty,  and 
supped  with  Infamy. 

If  you  ride  a  horse,  sit  close  and  tight ; 
If  you  ride  a  man,  sit  easy  and  light." 

These  trite  sayings,  thrown  into  the  pages  of  an  almanac 
to  fill  up  vacant  spaces,  were  little  regarded  by  their  author 
at  the  time;  but  they  were  caught  up,  and  soon  passed  cur- 
rent even  in  foreign  tongues,  Bon  Homme,  Richard  attaining 
to  as  common  use  in  France  as  Poor  Richard  at  home,  and  it 
is  doubtful  if  any  of  his  more  elaborate  works  will  be  as  long 
treasured  as  these  short  sayings. 

In  1736,  he  was  chosen  Clerk  of  the  Assembly,  which  office 
he  continued  to  fill  till  his  election  to  that  body,  in  1747.  But 
he  did  not  allow  this  duty  to  interfere  with  the  regular 
prosecution  of  his  business  as  a  printer  and  publisher  of  a 
newspaper.  In  the  following  year  he  was  appointed  Post- 
17 


258    PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

master  of  Philadelphia.  As  early  as  1683,  "William  Penn 
had  established  a  system  of  posts  from  Philadelphia  to  the 
principal  settlements  in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland.  An 
Act  of  Assembly,  regulating  this  system,  was  passed  in  1700, 
eleven  years  before  the  Act  of  Anne,  which  established  the 
system  in  England.  In  1753,  Franklin  was  appointed  Dep- 
uty PostmasteriGeneral  of  the  Colonies,  and  by  his  judicious 
management,  and  close  scrutiny  of  its  affairs,  caused  it  to  pro- 
duce a  revenue  to  the  Crown,  whereas  it  had  before  been  a 
considerable  burden.  At  the  opening  of  the  quarrel  between 
the  Colonies  and  the  mother  country,  he  was  removed ;  but 
in  1775,  when  Congress  assumed  the  Colonial  Government, 
he  was  appointed  the  first  Postmaster-General  under  the  new 
power.  It  was  as  Postmaster  that  Franklin  went  to  Brad- 
dock,  at  Frederick,  Maryland,  when  that  general,  in  a  fit  of 
discouragement,  was  about  giving  up  his  campaign  against 
the  French  and  Indians  at  Fort  Du  Quesne,  for  want  of  trans- 
portation. And  then  was  seen  his  great  personal  popularity; 
for,  going  among  the  farmers,  he  soon  had  all  the  wagons  he 
desired,  and  horses  in  large  numbers,  with  only  his  simple 
security  for  payment.  When,  after  the  defeat  and  death  of 
Braddock,  settlement  was  demanded,  it  came  near  involving 
Franklin  in  utter  ruin ;  and  would  have  done  so  had  it  not 
been  for  the  timely  assistance  of  Government. 

When,  in  1755,  soon  after  this  defeat,  the  French  and  In- 
dians were  laying  waste  the  frontier,  perpetrating  the  most 
fiendish  barbarities,  and  the  Government,  by  reason  of  the 
disagreements  between  the  Assembly  and  the  Governor,  was 
powerless  to  protect,  Franklin  proposed  a  voluntary  associa- 
tion for  defence,  as  he  had  done  in  a  like  emergency  ten  years 
before,  and  soon  had  a  large  force  enrolled.  He  marched  at 
the  head  of  his  regiment  to  the  scene  of  the  massacres,  estab- 
lished a  line  of  posts  in  mid-winter,  and  put  the  frontier  in 
an  attitude  of  defence.  By  his  influence  an  Act  was  passed 
authorizing  volunteer  militia  organizations,  provided  each 
volunteer  furnished  his  own  arms  and  equipments. 

At  this  period  Franklin  was  much  absorbed  by  his  invest!- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  259 

gatious  in  the  science  of  electricity.  The  account  of  the  pre- 
vious experiments  and  studies  of  philosophers  upon  the  sub- 
ject were  sent  to  him  in  1745,  and  by  the  year  1752  he  had 
completed  his  grand  discoveries  by  which  he  had  demon- 
strated the  identity  of  the  electricity  excited  by  friction  of 
glass  and  that  of  the  clouds.  Patiently,  in  the  intervals  of 
business,  he  had  perfected  his  theory,  and  going  forth,  armed 
with  a  simple  kite,  to  meet  the  thunder-storm,  —  making  hia 
son  his  sole  confidant,  for  fear  of  ridicule,  —  he  patiently 
awaited  the  descent  of  the  fluid  from  the  passing  cloud;  and 
when,  at  length,  he  saw  indications  of  its  presence,  and, 
reaching  forth  his  hand,  received  the  shock,  to  his  unspeak- 
able joy  he  saw  his  theory  demonstrated  and  fit  to  take  its 
place  as  a  portion  of  verified  science.  The  memoirs  detailing 
his  experiments  were  published  in  Europe,  and  at  once  ex- 
cited the  interest  and  the  admiration  of  the  learned.  The 
reigning  monarch  of  France  commanded  a  return  of  his 
thanks  to  Mr.  Franklin,  "  for  his  useful  discoveries  in  elec- 
tricity." Sir  Humphrey '  Davy  said  of  him :  "  A  singular 
felicity  of  induction  guided  all  his  researches,  and  by  very 
small  means  he  established  very  grand  truths.  The  style  and 
manner  of  his  publications  on  electricity  are  almost  as  worthy 
of  admiration  as  the  doctrine  it  contains.  He  has  endeavored 
to  remove  all  mystery  and  obscurity  from  the  subject.  He 
has  written  equally  for  the  uninitiated  and  for  the  philoso- 
pher ;  and  he  has  rendered  his  details  amusing  and  perspic- 
uous, elegant  as  well  as  simple.  Science  appears  in  his  lan- 
guage in  a  dress  wonderfully  decorous,  best  adapted  to 
display  her  native  loveliness.  He  has  in  no  instance  exhib- 
ited that  false  dignity  by  which  philosophy  is  kept  aloof  from 
common  applications,  and  he  has  sought  rather  to  make  her 
a  useful  inmate  and  servant  in  the  common  habitations  of 
man  than  to  preserve  her  merely  as  an  object  of  admiration 
in  temples  and  palaces." 

Franklin  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature  in  1747, 
where  he  at  once  took  a  prominent  part,  leading  the  party 
which  opposed  the  Proprietary  claims,  and  writing  many  of 


260      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

the  answers  to  the  messages  of  the  Deputy  Governors.  In 
1749,  he  drew  the  plan  for  establishing  an  Academy,  which 
finally  resulted  in  the  present  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
Twenty-four  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  were  named  as 
trustees,  and  when  the  plan  was  published,  so  popular  was  it, 
that  eight  hundred  pounds  a  year  for  five  years  were  sub- 
scribed for  its  support,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  following 
year  three  schools,  that  of  Latin  and  Greek,  of  Mathematics, 
and  of  English,  were  opened.  A  charity  school  and  college 
were  afterwards  engrafted  upon  the  plan,  and  it  soon  grew 
to  great  usefulness  and  prosperity.  He  was  also  instrumen- 
tal, in  connection  with  his  friend,  Dr.  Bond,  in  establishing 
the  Pennsylvania  Hospital. 

At  the  first  Colonial  Congress  held  at  Albany,  in  1754,  he 
was  a  member,  and  brought  forward  his  plan  of  a  general 
government,  vested  in  a  President-General  appointed  by  the 
Crown,  and  a  Legislature  of  forty-eight  members,  appor- 
tioned among  the  States  in  numbers  proportioned  to  popula- 
tion and  wealth.  It  was  discussed  and  adopted  nearly  as 
proposed,  but  was  rejected  by  both  Crown  and  Colonies.  It 
is  a  singular  circumstance  that  the  plan  which  Franklin  here 
advocated  for  raising  revenue  by  stamp-duties  was  the  iden- 
tical one  which  was  subsequently  adopted  by  the  British  Par- 
liament, but  with  this  vital  difference :  in  the  one  case  it  was 
to  be  laid  by  themselves,  and  in  the  other  by  the  British 
Government,  a  power  foreign  to  them. 

The  long  disputes  between  the  Proprietors  and  the  Assem- 
bly respecting  the  taxing  of  Proprietary  estates  finally  culmi- 
nated in  the  issuing  an  address  by  the  former  to  the  Crown, 
praying  its  interposition  to  save  the  Colony  from  the  power- 
ful Proprietary  interests;  and  Franklin  was  appointed  as 
agent  to  represent  the  cause  of  the  Assembly  at  Court.  The 
contest  was  now  transferred  to  a  new  theatre,  the  Proprietors 
resisting  the  demands  at  every  step.  It  was  finally  settled  by 
the  Proprietors  yielding  the  chief  point  in  dispute.  He  re- 
mained in  England  as  the  agent  of  Pennsylvania,  and  he 
was,  in  addition,  made  the  representative  of  Massachusetts, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  261 

Maryland,  and  Georgia.  Franklin's  presence  in  England  was 
the  occasion  of  interest  to  the  learned  on  account  of  his  dis- 
coveries in  Electricity.  The  Royal  Society  of  London  elected 
him  one  of  its  members.  The  University  of  St.  Andrews, 
Scotland,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws, 
and  the  Universities  of  Edinburgh  arid  Oxford  hastened  to 
bestow  the  like  distinction. 

While  in  England  he  issued  his  Canada  Pamphlet,  calling 
attention  to  the  importance,  to  the  British  Crown,  of  possess- 
ing that  part  of  the  continent  which  was  then  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  French.  Stimulated  by  his  views,  the  Govern- 
ment planned  a  vigorous  campaign,  which  resulted  in  the 
victory  of  Wolfe  over  Montcalm,  and  the  conquest  of  the 
entire  Province. 

He  returned  to  America  in  1762.  He  had  been  annually 
elected  a  member  of  the  Assembly  during  his  absence,  and 
upon  his  arrival  took  his  seat  in  that  body.  For  the  session 
of  1764,  he  was  defeated  by  a  small  majority  after  having 
been  elected  for  fourteen  consecutive  years.  But  his  friends 
in  the  Assembly  were  still  in  the  ascendant,  and  he  was 
again  chosen  to  represent  the  Colony  at  Court,  and  to  pre- 
sent a  petition  asking  for  a  change  of  Colonial  government 
from  Proprietary  to  regal,  the  old  controversy  having  been 
renewed.  'During  his  stay  in  England,  and  immediately 
after  the  dismissal  of  Grenville  from  the  British  Cabinet,  the 
question  of  the  repeal  of  the  odious  Stamp  Act  was  under 
consideration,  and  as  a  means  of  eliciting  information, 
Franklin  was  examined  before  the  House  of  Commons. 

"  What,"  he  was  asked,  "  was  the  temper  of  America  to- 
wards Great  Britain,  before  the  year  1763  ?  " 

"  The  best  in  the  world.  They  submitted  willingly  to  the 
government  of  the  Crown,  and  paid,  in  all  their  courts, 
obedience  to  the  acts  of  Parliament.  Numerous  as  the 
people  are  in  the  several  old  Provinces,  they  cost  you  nothing 
in  forts,  citadels,  garrisons,  or  armies  to  keep  them  in  subjec- 
tion. They  were  governed  by  this  country  at  the  expense 
only  of  a  little  pen,  ink,  and  paper.  They  were  led  by  a 


262     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

thread.  They  had  not  only  a  respect,  but  an  affection  for 
Great  Britain,  for  its  laws,  its  customs,  and  manners,  and 
even  a  fondness  for  its  fashions,  that  greatly  increased  the 
commerce.  Natives  of  Great  Britain  were  always  treated 
with  particular  regard  ;  to  be  an  Old-England  man  was,  of 
itself,  a  character  of  some  respect,  and  gave  a  kind  of  rank 
among  us." 

"  And  what  is  the  temper  now  ?  " 

"  Oh,  very  much  altered." 

"  If  the  Act  is  not  repealed,  what  do  you  think  will  be  the 
consequences  ?  " 

"  A  total  loss  of  the  respect  and  affection  the  people  of 
America  bear  to  this  country,  and  of  all  the  commerce  that 
depends  on  that  respect  and  affection." 

"  Do  you  think  the  people  of  America  would  submit  to 
pay  the  stamp  duty  if  it  was  moderated  ?  " 

"  No,  never,  unless  compelled  by  force." 

Great  respect  was  felt  for  the  views  and  opinions  of  Frank- 
lin. He  was  looked  up  to  as  a  sort  of  oracle  in  matters  of 
politics,  and  not  long  afterward  the  Act  was  repealed. 

In  the  year  1766  he  travelled  in  Holland  and  Germany, 
where  he  was  received  with  marks  of  distinction  by  the 
learned.  In  the  following  year  he  visited  France,  and  was 
presented  to  King  Louis  the  XV.,  and  leading  men  of  genius 
in  the  metropolis.  He  continued  to  represent  the  Colony  for 
a  period  of  over  ten  years,  during  which  time  he  was  most  indus- 
trious in  pleading  the  general  interests  of  all  the  Colonies, 
endeavoring  by  argument  and  entreaty,  by  correspondence 
and  personal  intercourse,  to  prevail  upon  the  Ministry  to 
abandon  their  unjust  and  oppressive  measures. 

One  of  the  most  noted  incidents  which  occurred  during 
this  period  was  his  appearance  before  a  Committee  of  the 
Privy  Council,  in  1774,  on  the  hearing  of  the  petition  of  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  for  the  recajl  of  Governor  Hutchin- 
son  and  Lieutenant  Governor  Oliver,  who  had  written  letters 
from  that  Province  to  men  high  in  official  stations,  inveighing 
against  the  leading  citizens  in  the  most  bitter  terms,  and 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  263 

urging  the  prosecution  of  vigorous  measures  to  compel  obe- 
dience to  British  enactments.  These  letters  came  to  the 
notice  of  Franklin,  who  had  them  published  and  sent  to 
America,  which  gave  occasion  to  the  petition  for  their  re- 
moval. Burke,  Priestly,  Jeremy  Bentham,  and  men  the 
most  eminent  in  the  kingdom,  were  present  as  witnesses  of 
the  scene.  Wedderburn,  the  Solicitor-General  of  the  Crown, 
assailed  him  with  bitter  terms  of  reproach  and  invective,  the 
whole  Court,  with  the  exception  of  Lord  North,  treating  him 
in  the  most  rude  and  undignified  manner.  "  Into  what  com- 
panies," exclaimed  Wedderburn,  "will  the  fabricator  of  this 
iniquity  hereafter  go  with  an  unembarrassed  face,  or  with  any 
semblance  of  the  honest  intrepidity  of  virtue !  Men  will  watch 
him  with  a  jealous  eye  —  they  will  hide  their  papers  from 
him,  and  lock  up  their  escritoires."  Bentham  thus  described 
the  venerable  demeanor  of  Franklin  in  this  trying  ordeal : 
"  Alone,  in  the  recess,  on  the  left  hand  of  the  President, 
standing,  remaining  the  whole  time  like  a  rock  in  the  same 
posture,  his  head  resting  on  his  left  hand,  and  in  that  attitude 
abiding  the  pelting  of  the  pitiless  storm."  Franklin  re- 
sponded that  the  letters  were  from  public  men,  upon  subjects 
pertaining  to  the  public  interests,  in  which  the  people  whom 
he  represented  were  deeply  involved,  and  that  the  transmis- 
sion of  them  was  a  public  act.  But  the  prejudices  of  the 
Court  were  all  against  him,  and  the  petition  was  declared 
scandalous  and  vexatious,  and  its  prayer  refused.  It  was  of 
a  piece  with  the  infatuation  with  which  the  Government  was 
seized,  and  in  which  it  persevered  until  the  nation  was  rent. 
Perceiving  that  little  could  be  effected  to  stay  the  hand  of 
power  raised  against  the  Colonies,  he  returned  to  America  in 
1775.  On  the  day  after  his  arrival  he  was  elected,  by  the 
Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  a  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  where  he  was  at  once  laboriously  employed.  In 
the  fall  of  this  year  he  visited  Canada  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
ducing that  province  to  join  the  Colonies,  and  to  send  delegates 
to  Congress.  His  failure  in  this  was  said  to  have  been  due  to 
religious  animosities,  which  subsisted  between  the  Canadians 


264      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

and  their  neighbors,  by  whom  their  chapels  had  at  different 
times  been  burned.  He  was  a  member  of  the  committee 
which  drew  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  passage  of 
which  he  strongly  advocated,  and  which  he  signed.  In  the 
same  year  he  was  president  of  the  convention  which  adopted 
the  new  constitution  of  Pennsylvania,  the  main  features  of 
which  were  attributed  to  his  mind,  the  single  legislature  and 
plural  executive  being  favorite  forms  with  him.  Near  the 
close  of  the  year  he  was  sent  by  Congress  to  France,  to  assist 
in  securing  an  alliance  with  that  power.  This  purpose  was 
effected  in  February,  1778,  and  France  thereby  became  in- 
volved in  the  war  against  England.  By  the  surrender  of 
Cornwallis  at  Yorktown,  the  British  Cabinet  finally  came  to 
see  that  their  attempts  to  subdue  the  Colonies  were  futile,  and 
on  the  30th  of  November,  1782,  articles  of  peace  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  were  concluded  at  Paris, 
through  the  agency  of  Franklin,  Adams,  and  Jay.  Formal 
treaties  were  subsequently  concluded  with  Great  Britain  and 
other  European  nations,  Franklin  acting  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  in  conducting  the  negotiations. 

Feeling  the  infirmities  of  age  coming  upon  him,  and  having1 
now  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  country  acknowledged  as  an 
independent  power  and  taking  its  place  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  he  became  desirous  of  returning  to  his  native  land, 
and,  upon  his  application  to  Congress,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  sent 
to  relieve  him.  In  September,  1785,  he  arrived  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  was  received  with  the  most  flattering  marks  of  re- 
spect and  affection.  Multitudes  flocked  to  meet  him,  and  a 
vast  concourse,  amid  the  ringing  of  bells,  and  the  resound- 
ing of  salvos  of  artillery,  conducted  him  in  triumph  to  his 
home.  He  was  visited  by  the  members  of  Congress  and  the 
principal  inhabitants  of  the  city ;  learned  societies  sent  him 
congratulatory  addresses;  and  on  every  hand  joy  for  his  return 
and  veneration  for  his  exalted  character  were  manifested. 
He  himself  felt  the  highest  satisfaction  in  being  again  settled 
in  his  own  home.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend  he  says :  "  I  am 
now  in  the  bosom  of  my  family,  and  find  four  new  little  prat- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  265 

tiers,  who  cling  about  the  knees  of  their  grandpapa,  and 
afford  me  great  pleasure.  I  am  surrounded  by  my  friends, 
and  have  an  affectionate  good  daughter  and  son-in-law  to 
take  care  of  me.  I  have  got  into  my  nichei  a  very  good 
house,  which  I  built  twenty-four  years  ago,  and  out  of  which 
I  have  been  ever  since  kept  by  foreign  employments." 

But  this  retirement  he  was  not  permitted  long  to  enjoy ; 
for  he  was  almost  immediately  chosen  a  member  of  the  Su- 
preme Executive  Council,  and  not  long  afterwards,  though  now 
upon  the  verge  of  eighty,  he  was  elected  its  President,  which 
office  he  was  chosen  to  fill  annually  for  the  constitutional 
period  of  three  years.  In  addition  to  this,  he  was,  in  1787, 
made  a  delegate  to  the  convention  which  framed  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States,  where  his  wisdom  and  long  ex- 
perience in  governmental  employments  made  his  opinions 
regarded  with  almost  the  veneration  of  an  oracle.  The  in- 
terests in  that  convention  were  so  conflicting  that  it  came 
near  breaking  up  without  agreeing  upon  a  constitution,  a 
motion  for  a  final  adjournment  having  been  proposed  before 
anything  had  been  accomplished.  At  this  critical  moment 
the  voice  of  the  aged  Franklin  was  heard  advocating  humili- 
ation before  God,  and  a  more  earnest  effort  for  agreement. 
"  How  has  it  happened,  sir,"  he  said,  "  that  while  groping  so 
long  in  the  dark,  divided  in  our  opinions,  and  now  ready  to 
separate  without  accomplishing  the  great  object  of  our  meet- 
ings, that  we  have  not  hitherto  once  thought  of  humbly  ap- 
plying to  the  Father  of  Light  to  illuminate  our  understand- 
ings? In  the  beginning  of  the  contest  with  Britain,  when 
we  were  sensible  of  danger,  we  had  daily  prayers  in  this  room 
for  Divine  protection.  Our  prayers,  sir,  were  heard,  and  they 
were  graciously  answered."  He  concluded  by  offering  a 
resolution  that,  "  henceforth,  prayers,  imploring  the  assistance 
of  Heaven,  and  its  blessings  on  our  deliberations,  be  held  in 
this  Assembly  every  morning  before  we  proceed  to  business." 

In  the  same  year  the  corner-stone  of  a  college  to  be  located 
at  Lancaster,  was  laid,  which  in  honor  of  the  President,  and 
as  a  grateful  recognition  of  his  generous  benefactions,  was 


266     PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

named  Franklin  College.  Hector  St.  John,  a  learned 
Frenchman,  was  at  the  time  travelling  in  this  country,  and 
in  a  work  which  he  afterwards  published  in  Paris,  entitled, 
Voyage  dans  la  Haute  Pennsylvanie,  he  says :  "  In  the  year 
1787,  I  accompanied  the  venerable  Franklin,  at  that  time 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  on  a  journey  to  Lancaster,  where 
he  had  been  invited  to  lay  the  corner-stone  of  a  college  which 
he  had  founded  there  for  the  Germans."  St.  John  records  a 
conversation  which  occurred  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  the 
ceremony,  in  which  Franklin,  in  answer  to  a  question  by  one 
of  the  citizens,  gave  an  elaborate  and  critical  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  aborigines  of  this  country,  showing  that  his  intel- 
lect was  preserved,  even  at  this  great  age,  in  its  original  vigor. 

In  1788,  at  the  close  of  his  term  of  office  as  a  councillor, 
and  Governor  of  the  State,  he  retired  altogether  from  public 
employments.  He  had  earned  a  title  to  leisure;  but  even 
now  he  was  only  content  to  enjoy  it  according  to  his  own 
definition  in  his  Poor  Richard's  sayings :  Leisure  is  time  for 
doing  something  useful.  His  tongue  and  his  pen  were  still 
busy,  and  to  amuse  and  help  him  to  pass  the  hours  agree- 
ably, he  had  a  small  printing  establishment  set  up  in  his 
room,  where  he  busied  himself  as  in  his  youthful  days. 

On  the  17th  of  April,  1790,  after  a  long  and  most  eventful 
life,  singularly  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  country  and  the 
good  of  mankind,  Franklin  quietly  breathed  his  last,  having 
attained  to  the  age  of  nearly  eighty-five  years.  He  was  not 
an  author  by  profession,  and  yet  few  have  been  more  volu- 
minous, or  have  written  with  as  much  thoughtful  care.  The 
number  of  his  published  works,  aside  from  his  vast  corre- 
spondence, as  enumerated  by  Sparks,  amounts  to  three  hun- 
dred and  four.  "  They  exhaust,"  says  Duyckinck,  "  every 
method  of  doing  good  practically,  which  fell  within  the 
range  of  his  powers  or  experience.  They  are  upon  topics 
of  individual  and  social  improvement ;  of  the  useful  arts, 
which  adorn  and  ameliorate  daily  life  ;  of  the  science  which 
enlarges  the  powers  of  the  mind  and  increases  the  comfort 
of  the  body ;  of  political  wisdom,  extending  from  the  direction 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  267 

of'  a  village  to  the  control  and  prosperity  of  the  ststte."  In 
all  his  varied  employments  and  benefactions,  he  always 
sought  the  elevation  and  permanent  improvement  of  man- 
kind. The  authorities  of  a  town  in  Massachusetts  which 
had  been  named  after  him,  sought  the  gift  of  a  bell  for  their 
church.  He  sent  instead  a  handsome  collection  of  books  for 
a  library,  expressing  in  his  answer  to  the  application  the 
hope  that  the  good  people  of  Franklin  preferred  sense  to 
sound. 

The  intelligence  of  his  death  created  a  profound  sensation 
throughout  America,  and  in  Europe,  where  his  name  was 
greatly  revered.  Madison  moved  in  Congress,  that,  "  being 
informed  of  the  decease  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  a  citizen 
whose  native  genius  was  not  more  an  ornament  to  human 
nature  than  his  various  exertions  of  it  have  been  precious  to 

science,  to  freedom,  and  to  his  country as  a  mark 

of  veneration  due  to  his  memory,  the  members  wear  the  cus- 
tomary badge  of  mourning  for  one  month."  A  like  tribute 
was  voted  by  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania.  In  France,  the 
honors  paid  to  his  memory  were  extraordinary.  At  Paris, 
where  his  person  was  familiar,  and  his  peculiar  talents  justly 
appreciated,  he  was  the  subject  of  sincere  mourning  and 
highest  eulogy.  Mirabeau,  the  most  eloquent  of  men,  as- 
cended the  tribune,  and  spoke  to  an  audience  which  hung  in 
breathless  silence  upon  his  words,  in  that  never-to-be-forgot- 
ten strain :  "  Franklin  is  dead !  Returned  into  the  bosom  of 
the  divinity  is  that  genius  which  freed  America,  and  rayed 
forth  upon  Europe  torrents  of  light.  The  sage  whom  the  two 
worlds  alike  claim  —  the  man  for  whom  the  history  of  science 
and  the  history  of  empires  are  disputing  —  held,  beyond 
doubt,  an  elevated  rank  in  the  human  species.  For  long 
enough  have  political  cabinets  noticed  the  deaths  of  those 
who  were  only  great  in  their  funeral  orations ;  for  long 
enough  has  court-etiquette  proclaimed  hypocritical  mourning. 
Nations  should  only  wear  mourning  for  their  benefactors. 
The  representatives  of  nations  ought  only  to  recommend  to 
their  homage  the  heroes  of  humanity.  The  Congress  has  or- 


268      PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  SUPREME  COUNCIL. 

da-ined,  in  the  thirteen  States  of  the  Confederation,  a  mourn- 
ing of  two  months  for  the  decease  of  Franklin ;  and  America 
is  acquitting  at  this  very  moment  that  tribute  of  Veneration 
for  one  of  the  fathers  of  her  Constitution.  Would  it  not  be 
worthy  of  us,  gentlemen,  to  join  in  that  religious  act;  to 
participate  in  that  homage,  rendered,  before  the  face  of  the 
universe,  both  to  the  rights  of  man,  and  to  the  philosopher 
who  has  the  most  contributed  to  extend  their  acknowledgment 
over  all  the  world?  Antiquity  would  have  raised  altars  to 
that  vast  and  powerful  genius,  who,  for  the  advantage  of 
mortals,  embracing  in  his  aspirations  heaven  and  the  earth, 
knew  how  to  tame  tyrants  and  their  thunderbolts.  France, 
enlightened  and  free,  owes  at  the  least  an  expression  of  re- 
membrance and  regret  for  one  of  the  greatest  men  who  have 
ever  aided  philosophy  and  liberty.  I  propose  that  it  be  de- 
creed that  the  National  Assembly  wear  mourning  during 
three  days  for  Benjamin  Franklin."  The  motion,  which  was 
.seconded  by  Lafayette,  was  adopted  in  the  Assembly  by  ac- 
clamation. The  Abbe  Fauchet  delivered  a  eulogy  upon  his 
life  and  genius  before  the  Commune  of  Paris ;  and  Condor- 
cet,  before  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  portrayed  his  character 
in  an  elaborate  oration.  Colleges  and  learned  societies 
tin  oughout  the  United  States  vied  in  paying  honors  to  his 
name,  and  in  every  generation  since,  the  pen  of  the  scientist, 
the  poet,  and  the  historian,  has  been  busy  in  perfecting  his 
praues.  The  following  fragment  of  an  Horatian  ode,  ad- 
dressed to  his  memory  by  an  obscure  poet,  John  Parker,  is  a 
•just  tribute  to  his  unaffected  simplicity,  and  never  varying 
integrity,  which  were  among  the  most  marked  attributes  of 
his  character : 

What  diff'rence  then  can  virtue  claim 

From  vice,  if  it  oblivious  lie  ? 
While  I  can  sing  your  spotless  name, 

Your  worthy  deeds  shall  never  die. 

Nor  shall  oblivion's  livid  power 

Your  patriotic  toils  conceal : 
Alike  in  good  or  adverse  hour 

A  patron  of  the  common-weal. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  269 

Forever  faithful  and  sincere, 

Your  hands  from  gilded  baits  are  free : 
The  public  villain  stands  in  fear 

You  should  perpetual  consul  be. 

The  knave  possest  of  shining  pelf, 

Can  never  sway  your  honest  choice : 
For  justice,  emblem  of  yourself, 

Exalts  above  the  rabble's  voice. 

Nor  can  we  rank  him  with  the  blest, 
To  whom  large  stores  of  wealth  are  given ; 

But  him  who  of  enough  possest 

Knows  how  to  enjoy  the  gifts  of  Heaven. 

Who  poverty  serenely  bears, 

With  all  the  plagues  the  gods  can  send ; 
Who  death  to  infamy  prefers, 

To  save  his  country  or  his  friend. 


PART  IV. 
GOVERNORS  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

271 


THOMAS  MIFFLIN, 

PRESIDENT   OF   THE   SUPREME   EXECUTIVE    COUNCIL, 

Novemler  5,  1788,  to  December  20,  1790. 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1790, 

December  21,  1790,  to  December  17,  1799. 

THE  venerable  Franklin,  then  in  his  eighty-second  year, 
determined,  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  President 
of  the  Council,  to  withdraw  altogether  from  public  employ- 
ments. In  casting  about  for  a  successor  to  so  illustrious  a 
man,  none  seemed  more  worthy  than  the  soldier  who,  during 
the  War  of  the  Revolution,  had  been  among  the  most  able 
and  devoted  in  the  country's  service.  The  choice  fell  upon 
Thomas  Miiflin,  and  it  is  a  distinction  which  he  enjoys  above 
all  others  who  have  been  elevated  to  the  enviable  position  o£ 
Chief  Executive  of  the  Commonwealth,  both  before  and 
since,  that  he  for  the  longest  period  exercised  this  power,  hav- 
ing been  two  years  President  of  the  Council,  and  for  three 
terms  Governor,  an  aggregate  of  eleven  years. 

Thomas  Mifflin  was  descended  from  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in 
1744.  It  was  the  purpose  of  his  father  that  the  son  should 
follow  a  mercantile  profession,  and  his  education  was  in  a 
manner  directed  to  that  end,  though  he  is  described  as 
having  passed  with  reputation  through  the  usual  collegiate 
course.  His  parents  were  Quakers,  and  he  was  early  trained 
in  their  faith  and  practices;  but  on  taking  arms  at  his 
country's  call,  his  connection  with  that  body  was  severed. 
Upon  the  completion  of  his  school  education,  he  entered  the 
counting-house  of  William  Coleman,  whom  Franklin  por- 

18  273 


274      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  O.F  1790. 

trays  as  one  of  the  members  of  his  celebrated  Junto,  and 
"  who,"  he  declared,  "  had  the  coolest,  clearest  head,  the  best 
heart,  and  the  exactest  morals  of  almost  any  man  I  ever  met 
with.  He  became  afterwards  a  merchant  of  great  note,  and 
one  of  our  Provincial  judges." 

Upon  attaining  his  majority  he  made  the  tour  of  Europe, 
spending  considerable  time  in  England  and  France.  Return- 
ing with  enlarged  views  of  trade  and  commerce,  as  witnessed 
in  the  old  marts  of  Europe,  and  with  manners  and  tastes 
tinged  by  the  modifying  influences  of  travel,  he  entered  into 
business  partnership  with  his  brother,  in  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia, with  little  expectation  of  figuring  prominently  in  one 
of  the  most  momentous  struggles  for  humanity  that  the  wqrld 
has  ever  seen.  But  in  1772,  when  only  twenty-eight  years 
of  age,  he  was  called  from  his  mercantile  pursuits  to  the 
more  public  and  honorable  duties  of  the  council-chamber, 
having  been  elected  one  of  the  two  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture from  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  re-elected  on  the 
following  year,  when  he  was  a  colleague  of  Franklin,  then 
just  returned  from  his  mission  to  England. 

So  acceptable  were  his  services  in  the  Assembly,  that 
when'  the  appointment  of  delegates  to  the  First  Continental 
Congress  came  to  be  made,  he  was  selected  as  one ;  and  in 
that  body,  which  has  been  pronounced,  by  the  most  com- 
petent authority,  unrivalled  for  wisdom,  ability,  and  sage 
counsel,  among  the  great  nations  of  antiquity  or  of  more 
modern  times,  he  occupied  a  position  of  commanding  in- 
fluence, and  we  find  his  name  associated  upon  important 
committees  with  those  of  Henry,  Livingston,  Jay,  Adams, 
and  Rutledge.  "  When  the  news,"  says  Dr.  Rawle,  his 
biographer,  "  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  reached  Philadel- 
phia, a  town  meeting  was  called,  and  the  fellow  -  citizens 
of  Mifflin  were  delighted  by  his  animated  oratory.  Other 
addresses  were  delivered  on  this  solemn  occasion,  all  of 
which  partook  of  the  same  feeling;  but,  although  the  young- 
est of  the  speakers,  Mifflin  had  the  exclusive  merit  of  sug- 
gesting the  necessity  of  a  steady  adherence  to  the  resolu- 


THOMAS  MIFFLIN.  275 

tions  that  were  adopted.  The  language  with  which  he  con- 
cluded was  long  remembered.  '  Let  us  not,'  he  said,  '  be 
bold  in  declarations,  and  afterwards  cold  in  action.  Let  not 
the  patriotic  feeling  of  to-day  be  forgotten  to-morrow,  nor 
have  it  said  of  Philadelphia,  that  she  passed  no])le  resolu- 
tions, slept  upon  them,  and  afterwards  forgot  them  ! ' : 

He  was  through  life  noted  for  his  fervid  eloquence,  and  in 
arousing  the  populace  to  a  sense  of  the  danger  which  threat- 
ened them  in  the  opening  era  of  the  revolution,  his  tongue 
was  often  unloosed,  and  never  without  instant  and  electric 
effect.  But  his  was  a  hand  to  do  as  well  as  to  point  the  way. 
When  troops  were  to  be  enlisted  and  drilled,  he  was  among 
the  foremost  to  organize  and  train  them,  and  was  selected  as 
Major  of  one  of  the  earliest  formed  regiments.  The  patriot 
blood  spilled  at  Lexington  and  Concord  fired  a  martial  spirit 
throughout  America,  by  which  the  bold  leaders  in  every 
State  were  nerved  to  resist  and  resent  those  unprovoked  as- 
saults ;  and  when  Washington  appeared  at  the  camp  in  Boston 
as  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  American  armies,  Mifflin 
was  by  his  side.  Recognizing  his  great  personal  popularity, 
the  ease  and  dignity  of  his  manners,  the  breadth  and  sound- 
ness of  his  views,  Washington  placed  him  at  once  at  the  head 
of  his  military  family.  In  the  absence,  or  at  the  retirement 
from  the  table  of  the  chief,  it  fell  upon  Mifflin  to  occupy  his 
place,  and  do  the  honors ;  and  for  this  duty,  by  his  social  posi- 
tion at  home  and  his  foreign  travel,  he  was  admirably  fitted. 
"  This  his  [Washington's]  station,  as  Commander-in-chief," 
says  Irving,  "  required  to  be  kept  up  in  ample  and  hospitable 
style.  Every  day  a  number  of  his  officers  dined  with  him. 
As  he  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  seat  of  the  Provincial 
government,  he  would  occasionally  have  members  of  Con- 
gress and  other  functionaries  at  his  board.  Though  social, 
however,  he  was  not  convivial  in  his  habits.  He  received 
his  guests  with  courtesy ;  but  his  mind  and  time  were  too 
much  occupied  by  grave  and  anxious  concerns,  to  permit 
him  the  genial  indulgence  of  the  table.  His  own  diet  was 
extremely  simply  Si  metimes  nothing  but  baked  apples  or 


276     GOVERNORS  VNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

berries,  with  cream  and  milk.  •  He  would  retire  early  from 
the  board,  leaving  an  aid-de-camp  or  one  of  his  officers  to 
take  his  place.  Colonel  Mifflin  was  the  first  person  who 
officiated  as  aid-de-camp.  He  was  a  Philadelphia  gentleman 
of  high  respectability,  who  had  accompanied  him  from  that 
city  and  received  his  appointment  shortly  after  their  arrival 
at  Cambridge."  * 

The  British  army  occupied  the  town  of  Boston,  while  that 
of  Washington  was  encamped  before  it,  and  was  employed  in 
checking  the  enemy's  movements  and  in  striking  his  foraging 
parties.  In  an  affair  with  one  of  these  parties,  Mifflin  had 
his  first  experience  of  hostile  encounter.  "  A  detachment," 
says  Dr.  Rawle,  "had  been  sent  from  the  British  army  to  a 
place  called  Lechmire's  Point,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
cattle.  Mifflin  solicited  and  obtained  the  command  of  a  party 
to  oppose  them,  and  succeeded,  with  half-disciplined  militia, 
in  repelling  the  regular  soldiery.  An  eye-witness,  the  aged 
and  venerable  General  Craig,  declared  to  the  writer,  that  he 
'  never  saw  a  greater  display  of  personal  bravery  than  was 
exhibited  on  this  occasion  in  the  cool  and  intrepid  conduct 
of  Colonel  Mifflin.' " 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1775,  "Washington  issued  a  general 
order  to  his  troops,  directing  their  attention  to  the  importance 
of  strict  obedience,  and  commending  them  to  the  guidance 
of  Heaven.  He  also  proceeded  to  organize  the  entire  army. 
The  difficult  position  of  Quartermaster-General  he  assigned 
to  Mifflin.  The  duties  were  new  and  arduous.  Everything 
was  in  confusion.  Order  had  to  be  established,  system  to  be 
inaugurated,  and  a  vigilant  watchfulness  maintained  that  the 
army  should  want  for  nothing  which  could  contribute  to  its 
efficiency  and  to  its  comfort. 

When  the  routine  had  in  a  measure  been  confirmed,  and 
discipline  began  to  sit  easily  and  naturally  upon  the  troops, 
Mrs.  Washington  came  to  headquarters,  and  greatly  assisted 
in  entertaining  the  numerous  guests  who  were  constantly 
flocking  thither.  The  headquarters  of  the  several  general 

*  living's  Washington,  Vol.  II.  p.  13. 


THOMAS  MIFFLIN.  277 

officers  were  maintained  with  considerable  state.  Not  the 
least  pretentious  was  that  of  Mifflin.  Graydon  describes  him 
at  this  period  as  "  a  man  of  education,  ready  apprehension, 
and  brilliancy,  very  easy  of  access,  with  the  manners  of  gen- 
teel life,  though  occasionally  evolving  those  of  the  Quaker;" 
and  John  Adams,  who  visited  him  during  a  recess  of  Con- 
gress, says,  "  I  dined  at  Colonel  Mifflin's  with  the  General 
(Washington)  and  lady,  and  a  vast  collection  of  other  com- 
pany, among  whom  were  six  or  seven  sachems  and  warriors 
of  the  French  Caughnawaga  Indians,  with  their  wives  and 
children.  A  savage  feast  they  made  of  it,  yet  were  very 
polite  in  the  Indian  style.  I  was  introduced  to  them  by  the 
Genera]  as  one  of  the  grand  council  at  Philadelphia,  which 
made  them  prick  up  their  ears.  They  came  and  shook 
hands  with  me."* 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1776,  Congress  appointed  and  com- 
missioned Mifflin  to  be  a  Brigadier-General,  and  he  was  given 
command  of  Pennsylvania  troops.  An  assignment  to  the 
field  was  much  more  to  his  taste  than  one  at  headquarters, 
though  it  were  that  of  Quartermaster-General  of  the  army. 
"  He  assumed,"  says  Gray  don,  who  visited  him  about  this  time, 
"  a  little  of  the  veteran,  from  having  been  before  Boston." 
In  August  he  was  stationed  at  King's  Bridge  in  command  of 
the  regiments  of  Shee  and  Magaw.  General  Heath,  who 
reviewed  them  there,  says,  "  They  are  the  best  disciplined  of 
any  troops  that  I  have  yet  seen  in  the  army." 

After  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  disastrous  to  the  Ameri- 
cans, "Washington  found  it  necessary  to  withdraw  altogether 
from  the  Island.  To  do  so  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy, 
now  in  his  immediate  front,  on  the  alert  for  an  advantage  and 
greatly  outnumbering  him,  was  a  difficult  matter.  The  means 
of  transportation  were  but  insignificant  —  a  few  row-boats 
and  transports,  the  latter  useless  except  with  favoring  winds. 
Fortunately,  the  night  of  the  29th  of  September  was  foggy, 
arid  under  cover  of  this  Washington  determined  to  attempt 
the  withdrawal.  Nine  thousand  men,  with  all  the  munition* 
*  Letters  of  John  Adams,  W  I.  p.  85. 


278      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  17J*,. 

of  war,  were  to  be  transported.  Mifflin,  with  his  Penns/lva- 
nia  troops,  had  been  brought  down  from  King's  Bridge  a  day 
or  two  before.  "Every  eye  brightened  as  they  marched 
briskly  along  the  line  with  alert  step  and  cheery  aspect." 
When  it  was  determined  to  retire,  these  troops  were  selected 
to  cover  the  movement,  a  most  difficult  and  dangerous  part. 

Irving,  in  his  Life  of  Washington,  gives  a  vivid  account 
of  the  incidents  of  this  remarkably  successful  manoeuvre. 
"  It  was  late  in  the  evening,"  he  says,  "  when  the  troops  be- 
gan to  retire  from  the  breastworks.  As  one  regiment  quietly 
withdrew  from  their  station  on  guard,  the  troops  on  the  right 
and  left  moved  up  and  filled  the  vacancy.  There  was  a  sti- 
fled murmur  in  the  camp,  unavoidable  in  a  movement  of  the 
kind ;  but  it  gradually  died  away  in  the  direction  of  the  river 
as  the  main  body  moved  on  in  silence  and  order.  .  .  .  The 
embarkation  went  on  with  all  possible  dispatch  under  the 
vigilant  eye  of  Washington,  who  stationed  himself  at  the 
ferry,  superintending  every  movement.  In  his  anxiety  for 
dispatch,  he  sent  back  Colonel  Scammel,  one  of  his  aids-de- 
camp, to  hasten  forward  all  the  troops  that  were  on  the  march. 
Scammel  blundered  in  executing  his  errand,  and  gave  the 
order  to  Mifflin  likewise.  The  General  instantly  called  in  his 
pickets. and  sentinels,  and  set  off'  for  the  ferry. 

"By  this  time  the  tide  had  turned;  there  was  a  strong  wind 
from  the  north-east;  the  boats  with  oars  were  insufficient  to 
convey  the  troops ;  those  with  sails  could  not  make  headway 
against  wind  and  tide.  There  was  some  confusion  at  the 
ferry,  and  in  the  midst  of  it,  General  Mifflin  came  down  with 
the  whole  covering  party,' adding  to  the  embarrassment  and 
uproar. 

"  '  Good  God  !  General  Mifflin  ! '  cried  Washington,  '  I  am 
afraid  you  have  ruined  us  by  so  unseasonably  withdrawing 
the  troops  from  the  line.' 

"'I  did  so  by  your  order/  replied  Mifflin,  with  some 
warmth.  '  It  cannot  be ! '  exclaimed  Washington.  '  By  G — •, 
I  did  ! '  was  the  blunt  rejoinder.  '  Did  Scammel  act  as  aid- 
de-camp  for  the  day,  or  did  he  not  1 '  '  He  did.'  '  Then,' 


THOMAS  MIFFLIN.  279 

said  Mifflin,  'I  had  orders  through  him.'  'It  is  a  dreadful 
mistake,'  rejoined  Washington,  'and  unless  the  troops  can  re- 
gain the  lines%efore  their  absence  is  discovered  by  the  enemy, 
the  most  disastrous  consequences  are  to  be  apprehended.' 

"  Mifflin  led  back  his  men  to  the  lines,  which  had  been 
completely  deserted  for  three  quarters  of  an  hour.  Fortu- 
nately, the  dense  fog  had  prevented  the  enemy  from  discov- 
ering that  they  were  unoccupied.  The  men  resumed  their 
former  posts,  and  remained  at  them  until  called  off  to  cross 
the  ferry.  '  Whoever  has  seen  troops  in  a  similar  situation,' 
writes  General  Heath, '  or  duly  contemplates  the  human  heart 
in  such  trials,  will  know  how  to  appreciate  the  conduct  of 
these  brave  men  on  this  occasion.'  "  * 

Upon  taking  the  field,  Mifflin  was  relieved  of  the  duties  of 
Quartermaster-General,  and  General  Stephen  Moylan  was 
appointed  to  succeed  him.  Moylan  was  a  gentleman  of  habits 
ill  suited  to  the  difficult  task  of  providing  for  an  army  where 
the  authority  for  calling  in  supplies  was  little  respected,  and 
the  means  of  paying  for  them  was  rarely  in  hand;  and  not 
long  after  accepting  the  position,  abandoned  it.  Mifflin  was 
importuned  to  resume  its  duties,  and  Congress  passed  a  for- 
mal resolve,  requesting  him  to  again  undertake  their  dis- 
charge. It  was  a  sacrifice  to  yield  the  chance  of  distinction 
to  which  he  was  now  in  a  fair  way,  and  give  himself  to  the 
most  trying  labors  with  no  hope  of  advancement.  But,  obe- 
dient to  the  call  of  his  country,  and  a  sense  of  duty,  he  with- 
drew from  his  command  and  devoted  himself  most  industri- 
ously to  his  old  task. 

The  reverses  of  the  American  army  during  the  summer 
and  fall  of  1776  culminated  in  its  withdrawal  into  New  Jer- 
sey, hotly  pursued  by  the  British  troops.  Pennsylvania  was 
threatened,  and  especially  Philadelphia,  where  Congress  was 
sitting.  At  this  dark  hour,  General  Mifflin  was  sent  with 
despatches  from  Washington  to  Congress,  calling  on  that 
body  loudly  for  help.  Mifflin,  at  the  request  of  Congress, 
made  a  stirring  address,  setting  forth  the  perilous  situation, 

*  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  Vol.  II.  pp.  313-315. 


280      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

and  appealing,  in  that  fervid  strain  of  eloquence  of  which  he 
was  master,  for  the  means  to  oppose  the  further.advance  of  a 
defiant  enemy.  That  body  was  greatly  exerciser!,  and  imme- 
diately ordered  that  General  Mifflin  should  remain  near  Con- 
gress for  consultation  and  advice,  notifying  the  Commander- 
in-chief  of  its  action.  As  the  American  army  continued  to 
fall  back,  and  the  enemy  to  advance,  the  peril  became  every 
day  more  imminent.  General  Putnam  was  sent  to  take  com- 
mand in  Philadelphia,  and  General  Mifflin  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  war  material  and  stores  deposited  in  the  city. 

The  victory  at  Trenton,  near  the  close  of  December,  pro- 
duced a  gleam  of  hope;  and  taking  advantage  of  the  encour- 
agement which  it  inspired,  Congress  determined  to  send  some 
one  capable  of  arousing  the  masses  throughout  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  order  that,  by  his  personal  appeals,  they 
might  be  drawn  to  the  support  of  Washington's  decimated 
ranks.  No  man  was  better  fitted  than  General  Mifflin,  and 
he  was  designated  for  that  duty.  The  Assembly  was  requested 
to  send  a  suitable  committee  to  accompany  him  on  his  mis- 
sion, which  was  accordingly  done.  He  visited  the  principal 
places  throughout  the  Commonwealth,  and  from  the  stump, 
the  court-house,  and  the  church  were  heard  with  delight 
his  spirit-stirring  words.  The  work  of  recruiting  was  re- 
vived, and  the  ranks  of  the  army  were  visibly  strengthened. 
In  acknowledgment  of  his  services  on  this  occasion,  Con- 
gress bestowed  on  him,  in  the  following  month,  the  rank  of 
Major-General. 

His  duties  as  Quartermaster-General  were  continued,  though 
called  to  other  and  arduous  cares,  and  in  the  fall  of  this  year 
they  were  still  further  increased  by  his  appointment  as  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  War,  established  by  Congress,  which 
consisted  of  three  members,  General  Mifflin,  Timothy  Pick- 
ering, and  Robert  H.  Harrison.  It  was  provided  that  the 
members  of  this  Board  should  be  composed  of  military  men, 
uot  members  of  Congress,  in  order  that  professional  advice 
and  counsel  might  always  be  at  the  service  of  that  body. 
Harrison  declined  to  serve,  and  General  Gates,  Colonel 


THOMAS  MIFFLIN.  281 

Joseph  Trumbull,  and  Richard  Peters  were  added,  making 
the  number  five,  of  which  Gates  was  chosen  president. 

Overborne  with  the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  his  various 
offices,  General  Mifflin's  health  became  so  much  impaired  that 
he  deemed  it  advisable  to  withdraw  from  active  duty,  and  sent 
in  his  resignation ;  but  Congress  refused  to  accept  it,  and  he 
continued  to  discharge  the  duties  imposed,  though  obliged  to 
leave  much  to  his  subordinates.  As  a  consequence,  his  aifairs 
were  involved  in  some  confusion,  and  complaints  were  heard 
of  pressing  wants  in  the  army  which  were  not  supplied.  It  was 
the  darkest  hour  in  the  whole  course  of  the  war.  The  British 
army  was  quartered  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  rioting  in 
profusion,  while  Washington,  and  his  half  starved,  indiffer- 
ently clothed  troops,  were  perishing  in  wretched  cantonments 
at  Valley  Forge.  It  was  next  to  impossible  to  obtain  supplies, 
and  the  depreciated  paper  currency  with  which  the  farce  of 
payment  was  made,  furnished  little  inducement  for  those  who 
had  the  needed  articles  to  bring  them  forward.  Mifflin  con- 
tended that  he  ought  not  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  con- 
duct of  those  over  whom  he  had  no  efficient  control.  Con- 
gress held  that  the  head  of  a  department  was  accountable  for 
the  entire  management  of  all  its  operations,  whether  by  prin- 
cipal or  deputy.  So  far  as  his  own  accounts  were  concerned, 
they  were  known  to  be  correct,  the  confusion  complained  of 
being  the  work  of  subordinates. 

In  March,  1778,  a  successor,  in  the  person  of  General 
Greene,  was  appointed,  and  General  Mifflin  was  directed  to 
render  "  a  statement  of  the  preparations  for  the  next  cam- 
paign, and' deliver  the  articles  on  hand  to  him." 

As  the  time  drew  near  when  it  was  evident  that  the  enemy 
would  be  obliged  to  evacuate  Philadelphia,  and  an  active 
campaign  would  open,  General  Mifflin  sought  and  obtained 
leave  to  join  the  army  in  the  field.  "  By  one  of  those  strange 
vacillations,"  says  Dr.  Rawle,  "  to  which  public  bodies  are 
always  liable,  Congress,  after  having  at  different  times  mani- 
fested almost  unbounded  confidence,  suddenly  requested  Gen- 
eral "Washington  to  make  an  inquiry  into  his  conduct,  and  if 


282      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

the  distresses  of  the  army  were  owing  to  his  misconduct,  or 
that  of  his  inferior  officers,  to  order  a  court-martial.  We 
may  reasonably  suppose  that  this  procedure  arose  from  clamors 
with  which  Congress  was  beset,  and  which  they  knew  not  how 
otherwise  to  appease."  As  for  General  Mifflin,  he  was  ready 
and  anxious  for  an  examination.  Being  unable  to  obtain  one, 
he  again  returned  his  commission  to  Congress;  but. that  body 
knew  too  well  the  great  services  that  he  had  rendered,  and 
was  capable  of  rendering,  to  accept  it,  and  his  resignation 
was  again  refused. 

Scarcely  a  month  from  this  time,  Congress  placed  in  his 
hands  a  million  of  dollars  with  which  to  settle  the  claims 
outstanding  during  his  administration.  No  better  evidence 
than  this  is  needed  of  the  entire  confidence  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  his  absolute  integrity  and  virtue.  As  a  further  proof 
of  the  faith  which  was  placed  in  his  capacity  and  judgment, 
he  was,  in  January,  1780,  appointed  by  Congress  a  member 
of  a  board  to  examine  and  devise  means  for  retrenching  the 
general  expenses,  and  a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  for  the 
"  wise  and  salutary  plans  recommended." 

The  despondency  and  gloom  which  settled  down  upon  the 
nation  during  the  winter  of  1777,  in  which  the  army  was  at 
Valley  Forge  and  the  enemy  in  Philadelphia,  produced  such 
results  as  would  be  expected.  It  was  a  season  of  fault-find- 
ing. Pennsylvanians  were  especially  impatient  at  beholding 
the  fairest  portions  of  the  State- given  over  to  the  enemy,  and 
its  metropolis  a  prey  to  the  spoiler.  Blame  fell  upon  the 
Commander-in-chief.  He  was  believed  to  be  too  cautious, 
and  the  Fabian  policy,  by  which  he  seemed  to  be  governed, 
was  stigmatized  as  leading  to  utter  ruin.  In  this  view  a  con- 
siderable party.in  Congress  and  many  officers  in  the  army 
sympathized,  Lovell,  of  Massachusetts,  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Relations,  and  Samuel  Adams,  being  of  the 
number.  Indeed  it  would  seem,  from  the  fact  that  Congress 
created  at  this  period  a  Board  of  War,  in  which  authority 
was  vested  superior  to  that  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  that 
a  majority  of  that  body  were  of  the  same  opinion.  The 


THOMAS  MIFFLIN.  283 

officers  in  the  army  most  active  in  giving  currency  to  these 
views  were  Generals  Gates  and  Conway.  The  party  of  which 
they  were  the  leading  spirits  was  known  as  the  Conway 
Cabal,  and  its  object,  as  was  charged,  was  to  elevate  General 
Gates  to  the  position  of  Commander-in-chief,  in  place  of 
Washington.  Gates'  fortunate  success  at  Saratoga,  where  he 
had  compelled  the  whole  British  army  under  Burgoyne  to 
lay  down  its  arms,  had  brought  him  prominently  before  the 
country,  and  the  fact  that  he  was  elected  Chairman  of  the 
new  Board  of  War,  gave  some  color  to  the  charge,  as  indi- 
cating the  direction  in  which  popular  favor  was  setting. 
General  Mifflin  was  classed  with  this  party,  and  by  reason  of 
his  being  associated  with  Gates  in  the  Board  of  War,  it  was 
natural  that  the  two  should  be  intimate  and  should  sympathize 
with  each  other  in  opinion.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  Mifflin 
believed  Washington  over-cautious,  and  desired  to  see  a  more 
daring  policy  inaugurated ;  but  that  he  ever  contemplated  the 
elevation  of  Gates  to  the  supreme  command,  or  even  desired 
it,  there  is  no  evidence.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  his  positive 
denial  of  having  sought  such  a  result. 

In  a  letter  to  Colonel  Delany,  written  on  the  1st  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1788,  he  says :  "  As  a  man  of  sense  and  honor,  you 
must  judge  what  rny  feelings  must  be,  when  I  am  told  that 
my  old  acquaintance,  Colonel  Delany,  had  charged  me  with 
a  design  of  ruining  General  Washington,  and  of  setting  up 
General  Gates  in  opposition  to  him.  As  a  friend  to  my 
country,  I  have  spoken  my  sentiments  on  public  matters  with 
decency  and  firmness.  I  love  and  esteem  General  Washing- 
ton, and  know  him  too  well  even  to  wish  for  an  exchange. 
I  love  my  country,  and  for  her  sake  deprecate  the  idea  of 
such  a  change.  But  I  have  seen,  and  among  rny  friends  have 
said,  that  General  Washington's  judgment  in  military  points 
was  frequently  counteracted  by  what  I  believed  a  dangerous 
influence.  I  have  quoted  Long  Island  and  Mount  Washing- 
ton as  instances  of  that  influence,  and  have  lamented  that  the 
General  did  not  consider  the  great  value  of  his  own  private 
judgment,  a  judgment  universally  admitted  and  admired." 


284      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

That  General  "Washington  had  been  unfortunate  in  the 
battles  of  Brandywine  and  Germantown  was  apparent  to  all. 
To  criticise  fairly  his  conduct  in  them  was  the  right  and  the 
duty  of  freemen.  "Whether  a  more  daring  leader  would 
have  done  better  is  a  question  which  will  ever  remain  open 
to  discussion.  That  there  were  those  at  that  period,  among 
the  purest  patriots,  who  did  question  Washington's  conduct, 
is  evident.  That  Mifflin  did  so,  should  be  no  derogation  to 
his  honor,  or  to  his  integrity  to  the  cause.  On  the  contrary, 
it  would  seem  to  prove  his  impatience  of  delay,  and  the 
intensity  of  his  devotion  to  the  struggle  in  which  he  had 
staked  fortune  and  life  itself. 

In  1783,  General  Mifflin  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress, 
and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  had  the  satisfaction  of  being  ele- 
vated to  the  position  of  presiding  officer  of  that  grave  and 
dignified  body.  In  that  capacity  he  acted  during  the  closing 
events  of  the  Revolution,  and  received  back  the  commission 
from  "Washington  when  he  formally  tendered  his  resignation. 
The  event  was  a  deeply  affecting  one.  For  eight  long  years 
Washington  had,  through  many  gloomy  periods,  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  army.  In  a  spirit  of  the  loftiest  patriotism, 
when,  by  his  steadfastness  and  valor,  he  had  won  a  final 
triumph,  and  saw  the  armies  of  the  enemy,  crestfallen,  with- 
drawing from  the  contest,  instead  of  being  swayed  by  that 
vaulting  ambition  which  has  almost  without  exception  pos- 
sessed the  world's  great  conquerors,  he  counselled  the  quiet 
disbanding  of  the  army,  and  taking  leave  of  his  companions- 
in-arms,  repaired  to  the  halls  of  Congress,  delivered  up  his 
commission,  which  at  the  first  he  had  received  with  fear  and 
trembling,  and  retired  to  his  peaceful  home  on  the  banks  of 
the  Potomac,  with  no  more  power  than  the  humblest  citizen, 
joyful  at  the  prospect  of  finally  knowing  the  peace  and  quiet 
of  private  life.  The  scene  which  was  presented,  when  he 
stood  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  Congress,  and  with  a 
voice  faltering  with  emotion  pronounced  his  last  words  as  the 
head  of  the  army,  is  one  worthy  the  loftiest  inspiration  of  the 
painter.  His  concluding  words  were  most  memorable.  "I 


THOMAS  MIFFLIK  285 

consider  it,"  he  says,  "  an  indispensable  duty  to  close  this  last 
act  of  my  official  life  by  commending  the  interests  of  our 
dearest  country  to  the  protection  of  Almighty  God,  and  those 
who  have  the  superintendence  of  them  to  his  holy  keeping. 
Having  now  finished  the  work  assigned  me,  I  retire  from  the 
great  theatre  of  action,  and,  bidding  an  affectionate  farewell 
to  this  august  body,  under  whose  orders  I  have  so  long  acted, 
I  here  offer  my  commission,  and  take  my  leave  of  all  the  em- 
ployments of  public  life." 

The  reply  of  President  Mifflin  was  worthy  of  the  occasion: 
"  The  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  receive,  with 
emotions  too  affecting  for  utterance,  the  solemn  resignation 
of  the  authorities  under  which  you  have  led  their  troops  with 
Buccess  through  a  perilous  and  a  doubtful  war.  Called  upon 
by  your  country  to  defend  its  invaded  rights,  you  accepted 
the  sacred  charge,  before  it  had  formed  alliances,  and  while 
it  was  without  funds  or  a  Government  to  support  you.  You 
have  conducted  the  great  military  contest  with  wisdom  and 
fortitude,  invariably  regarding  the  rights  of  the  civil  power 
through  all  disasters  and  changes.  You  have,  by  the  love 
and  confidence  of  your  fellow-citizens,  enabled  them  to  dis- 
play their  martial  genius,  and  transmit  their  fame  to  poster- 
ity. You  have  persevered  until  these  United  States,  aided 
by  a  magnanimous  king  and  nation,  have  been  enabled, 
under  a  just  Providence,  to  close  the  war  in  freedom,  safety, 
and  independence ;  in  which  happy  event  we  sincerely  join 
you  in  congratulations.  Having  defended  the  standard  of 
liberty  in  this  new  world,  having  taught  a  lesson  useful  to 
those  who  inflict  and  to  those  who  feel  oppression,  you  retire 
from  the  great  theatre  of  action  with  the  blessings  of  your 
fellow-citizens.  But  the  glory  of  your  virtues. will  not  termi- 
nate with  your  military  command ;  it  will  continue  to  ani 
mate  remotest  ages.  We  feel,  with  you,  our  obligations  to 
the  army  in  general,  and  will  particularly  charge  ourselves 
with  the  interests  of  those  confidential  officers  who  have  at- 
tended your  person  to  this  affecting  moment.  We  join  you 
in  commending  the  interests  of  our  dearest  country  to  the 


286      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

protection  of  Almighty  God,  beseeching  him  to  dispose  the 
hearts  and  minds  of  its  citizens  to  improve  the  opportunity 
afforded  them  of  becoming  a  happy  and  respectable  nation. 
And  for  you  we  address  to  Him  our  earnest  prayers  that  a  life 
so  beloved  may  be  fostered  with  all  His  care ;  that  your  days 
may  be  as  happy  as  they  have  been  illustrious ;  arid  that  He 
will  finally  give  you  that  reward  which  this  world  cannot 
give." 

In  the  Assembly  of  the  State  which  met  in  1785,  Mifflin 
was  a  member,  and  was  elected  its  speaker.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  the  Convention  which  sat  in  1787  for  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  to  that 
instrument  his  name  was  affixed.  In  1788,  he  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council,  and  towards  the 
close  of  the  year,  upon  the  retirement  of  Franklin,  he  was 
elected  president.  The  dissatisfaction  which  was  early  man- 
ifested towards  the  State  Constitution  of  1776,  and  which  had 
been  a  constant  subject  of  contention  and  party  wrangle  since, 
was  more  than  ever  displayed  after  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States.  A  comparison  of  it  with  that 
instrument  only  served  to  magnify  its  defects,  and  it  was  ac- 
cordingly determined  by  the  Council  of  Censors,  who  were 
charged  with  considering  the  question  every  seven  years,  to 
call  a  convention  to  revise  it.  That  convention  met  in  1790, 
and  over  its  deliberations  Mifflin,  who  had  been  elected  one 
of  its  members,  was  called  to  preside.  On  many  questions 
which  were  discussed  there  was  division  of  sentiment,  and, 
consequently,  spirited  debate.  The  election  of  Governor, 
whether  by  electors  or  by  popular  vote,  the  qualifications  for 
suffrage,  and  the  rights  of  masters  who  brought  slaves  in 
visiting  the  State  from  other  States,  were  among  the  themes 
which  called  forth  the  most  animated  discussions.  In  all 
these  questions  Mifflin  sided  with  the  liberal  party,  and  gave 
his  votes  for  its  measures. 

The  Constitution  was  no  sooner  adopted  and  promulgated 
than  the  question  began  to  be  agitated  who  should  be  the 
first  Governor.  As  there  had  been  divisions  among  the  dele- 


THOMAS  MIFFLIN.  287 

gates  in  the  convention  on  the  items  of  policy  involved,  so 
there  were  among  the  people  upon  the  choice  of  a  Governor. 
Two  candidates  were  put  forward,  Thomas  Mifflin  and  Arthur 
St.  Clair.  The  latter  had  a  bright  military  reputation,  and 
was  personally  much  esteemed,  though  his  abilities  and  at- 
tainments were  but  moderate.  Mifflin  triumphed,  l^eing 
elected  by  a  large  majority,  and  was  continued  in  office  for 
that  and  the  two  succeeding  terms.  The  routine  of  executive 
duty,  as  established  by  him  under  the  new  Constitution,  with 
little  variation  has  been  preserved.  There  were  two  events 
during  his  administration  which  more  than  ordinarily  moved 
the  public  mind.  The  first  was  the  intemperate  conduct  of 
the  French  minister,  Genet.  In  the  heated  discussions,  which 
were  the  result,  Governor  Mifflin  maintained  a  reserved  and 
dignified  position,  and  in  the  support  of  the  State  in  its  just 
relations  with  the  national  Government  was  most  earnest. 
The  second  was  the  resistance,  in  some  of  the  western  coun- 
ties of  the  State,  to  the  collection  of  the  excise  tax,  and  was 
commonly  known  as  the  "  Whiskey  Insurrection."  It  proved 
too  formidable  for  the  civil  authorities,  with  the  aid  of  the 
few  soldiers  which  were  called  from  Fort  Pitt,  to  manage. 
Washington,  who  was  then  President,  called  out  the  militia 
of  four  States,  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  and 
Virginia,  to  the  number  of  twenty  thousand  men,  for  its  sup- 
pression. Governor  Mifflin  marched  promptly  at  the  head 
of  the  Pennsylvania  quota,  and  at  Cumberland,  Maryland, 
met  the  troops  from  the  other  States,  where  an  organization 
of  the  forces  was  effected,  Governor  Lee,  of  Virginia,  "Light- 
Horse  Harry,"  being  placed  in  chief  command.  In  two  di- 
visions, amounting  to  some  fifteen  thousand  men,  Lee  pushed 
forward  towards  the  disaffected  districts.  At  the  approach 
of  so  large  a  force,  the  insurgents  became  alarmed,  and  were 
glad  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  sue  for  pardon.  General 
Morgan,  with  a  small  force,  was  left  in  the  district  to  insure 
security,  and  the  main  body  returned  rapidly  and  was  dis- 
banded. A  few  of  the  leaders  were  apprehended  and  tried, 
but  never  convicted. 


288      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

The  Constitution  limited  the  eligibility  of  holding  the 
office  of  Governor  to  three  terms  of  three  years  each.  At 
the  end  of  this  maximum  period,  Governor  Mifflin  meditated 
a  return  to  private  life ;  but  before  it  had  fully  expired,  the 
people,  unwilling  to  dispense  altogether  with  his  services, 
elected  him  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  His  last  official 
communication  as  Governor  was  made  on  the  7th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1799.  It  contained  his  farewell  sentiments  on  taking 
leave  of  the  office,  and  was  replete  with  sage  advice  and 
counsel.  It  was  received  with  every  manifestation  of  respect 
by  the  Assembly,  and  an  answer  returned  conceived  in  a 
kindly  and  affectionate  spirit.  He  then  took  his  seat  in  the 
Assembly,  but  did  not  long  survive.  He  died  during  a  ses- 
sion of  the  House,  then  sitting  at  Lancaster,  on  the  21st  of 
January,  1800.  His  decease  was  noticed  with  becoming 
ceremonies,  resolutions  being  passed  expressive  of  the  high 
sense  entertained  for  him  as  a  soldier  and  a  statesman,  au- 
thorizing his  interment  at  the  public  expense,  and  providing 
for  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  his  memory. 

"  Thus  ended,"  says  Dr.  Rawle,  "  the  checkered  life  of 
Thomas  Mifflin  —  brilliant  in  its  outset  —  troubled  and  per- 
plexed at  a  period  more  advanced  —  again  distinguished, 
prosperous,  and  happy  —  finally  clouded  by  poverty  and  op- 
pressed by  creditors.  In  patriotic  principle  never  changing 
—  in  public  action  never  faltering  —  in  personal  friendship 
sincerely  warm  —  in  relieving  the  distressed  always  active 
and  humane  —  in  his  own  affairs  improvident  —  in  the  busi- 
ness of  others  scrupulously  just." 


Jd, 

*       mg- 

mg  as 

ise,  had 

highest 

'734, in 


THOMAS  McKEAN, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTI  >N   OF    1790, 

December  17,  1799,  to  December  20,  1808. 

THE  State  of  Delaware  was  originally  a  part  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  even  after  their  legal  severance  the  political 
relations  which  subsisted  between  them  were  intimate. 
.Hence  it  was  that  Governor  Dickinson  represented  both 
Colonies  at  successive  periods  in  the  Continental  Congress, 
and  was  during  the  last  years  of  his  life  a  citizen  of  Wilming- 
ton, Delaware,  though  he  was  a  portion  of  his  time  acting  as 
Governor  of  both  States.  Governor  McKean,  likewise,  had 
accorded  him  a  common  citizenship — holding  the  highest 
offices  in  both  States  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

Thomas  McKean  was  born  on  the  19th  of  March,  1734,  in 
Londonderry,  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  the 
son  of  William  and  Lajtitia  (Finney)  McKean,  both  natives 
of  Ireland.  After  receiving  rudimentary  instruction  in  the 
common  branches,  he  was  placed  under  the  tuition  of  the  Rev. 
Francis  Allison,  D.  D.,  who  acquired  a  great  reputation  as  an 
educator  and  divine.  Here  young  McKean  gained  a  good 
knowledge  of  the  ancient  languages,  and  of  the  several 
sciences  which  were  deemed  requisite  for  a  liberal  education, 
and  at  the  conclusion  of  his  course  entered  the  office  of  his 
kinsman,  David  Finney,  of  Newcastle,  Delaware,  as  a  student 
at  law.  Not  long  after  commencing  his  legal  studies,  he  was 
engaged  as  clerk  to  the  Prothonotary  of  the  Court  of  Com- 
mon Pleas,  where  he  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the  prac- 
tice of  the  profession,  the  theory  of  which  he  was  now  intently 
studying.  Two  years  later  he  was  made  Deputy  Prothono- 
tary, and  Register  for  the  Probate  of  Wills,  for  the  County 

19  269 


290      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

of  Newcastle,  in  which  position  he  carried  the  chief  respon- 
sibility, the  Prothonotary  living  for  the  most  part  on  his 
estate  eighty  miles  from  the  County-seat. 

Before  he  had  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one,  such  had 
been  his  industry,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  several 
County  courts,  and  in  the  contiguous  counties  of  Penn- 
sylvania. In  1756,  he  received,  unsolicited,  the  appointment 
of  Deputy  Attorney-General,  to  prosecute  the  pleas  of  the 
Crown  in  the  County  of  Sussex,  which  duties  he  performed 
with  great  acceptability  for  a  period  of  two  years,  when  he 
resigned. 

In  1757,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  the  same  year  was  elected  Clerk  of 
the  Assembly.  He  was  re-elected  for  the  succeeding  session,, 
after  which  he  declined  a  further  service.  In  1762,  he  was 
appointed  by  the  Assembly,  in  connection  with  Caesar  Rod- 
ney, to  codify  and  print  the  laws  of  the  State  passed  previous 
to  the  year  1752. 

Having  thus  served  a  good  apprenticeship  to  political  life, 
by  the  discharge  of  some  of  its  minor  duties,  and  by  labori- 
ous service  in  his  profession,  he  in  this  year  launched  upon 
that  stormy  sea  where,  for  half  a  century,  with  a  stout  heart 
and  a  steady  hand,  he  braved  its  billows.  In  the  October 
election  he  was  chosen  a  representative  to  the  General  As- 
sembly from  the  County  of  New  Castle,  and  was  re-elected 
for  seventeen  successive  years.  For  the  last  six  years  of  this 
period  he  resided  in  Philadelphia,  and  though  his  constituents 
in  Delaware  were  aware  of  his  oft -expressed  desire  to  be 
relieved,  they  continued  to  return  him.  Finally,  on  the  day 
of  the  general  election  in  1779,  he  attended  at  New  Castle, 
where  he  addressed  them  upon  the  questions  of  the  day,  both 
State  and  National,  and  concluded  by  declining  to  be  con- 
sidered a  candidate  for  re-election.  Placing  great  confidence 
in  hid  judgment  and  penetration,  a  committee  of  citizens  im- 
mediately waited  on  him  and  requested  that  he  would  name 
seven  persons  whom  he  thought  most  suitable  to  represent 
the  County  in  the  Assembly.  Realizing  the  delicacy  of  such 


THOMAS  McKEAK  291 

a  service,  he  at  first  refused  to  act ;  but  upon  the  further  so- 
licitation of  the  committee,  after  consultation  with  their  asso- 
ciates, and  upon  their  urgent  appeal,  he  wrote  the  names  of 
seven  persons,  every  one  of  whom  was  almost  unanimously 
elected. 

Recognizing  the  importance  to  the  prosperity  of  a  young 
and  rising  State  of  extending  credit  to  men  of  deserving 
character  and  promise,  the  States  of  Pennsylvania  and  Dela- 
ware had  early  established  public  loan-offices.  They  were 
the  means  of  effecting  vast  good,  and  were  at  times  of  incal- 
culable advantage  to  the  State  Governments ;  enabling  them 
to  realize  money  in  events  of  pressing  need.  In  1764,  Mr. 
McKean  was  appointed,  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature,  one  of 
the  trustees  of  the  loan-office  for  the  County  of  New  Castle, 
for  the  term  of  four  years.  The  appointment  was  renewed 
in  1768,  and  1772,  extending  thus  through  a  period  of  twelve 
years. 

In  the  Colonial  Congress  of  1765,  commonly  known  as  the 
Stamp  Act  Congress,  which  met  in  New  York,  Mr.  McKean' 
was  a  member  from  Delaware.  It  was  the  least  in  territory 
of  all  the  States ;  and  had  the  votes  been  taken  according  to 
number  of  population  represented,  its  influence  would  have 
been  insignificant  Mr.  McKean  saw  this,  and  at  the  outset 
insisted  that  each  State  should  have  one  vote,  giving  all  the 
States  an  equal  voice.  His  influence  prevailed.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  that  jealousy  and  struggle  for  power  be- 
tween the  small  and  large  States,  which  has  extended  to  this 
day,  and  which  is  likely  to  produce  convulsions  in  the  future. 
It  was  the  most  difficult  question  that  was  met  in  the  Con- 
vention which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  Union.  A 
compromise  was  finally  agreed  upon,  giving  the  small  States 
an  equal  voice  in  the  Senate,  but  in  the  House  only  propor- 
tionate to  its  population.  In  this  convention  Mr.  McKean 

was  a  member  of  the  Committee  which  drew  the  memorial 

« 

to  the  Lords  and  Commons,  and  with  Mr.  Livingston  and 
Mr.  Itutledge,  was  charged  by  Congress  to  revise  the  minutes 
of  the  proceedings. 


292      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

One  circumstance  which  occurred  near  the  close  of  the 
session,  so  well  illustrates  the  open,  manly  boldness  \vith 
which  he  met  every  question,  that  it  merits  recital.  It  is 
given  hy  the  author  of  the  sketch  of  Mr.  McKean  published 
in  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration.  "  "When  the  business  waa 
concluded,"  he  says,  "and  on  the  last  day  of  the  session,  the 
President,  and  some  timid  members,  refused  to  sign  the  pro- 
ceedings. Mr.  McKean  then  rose,  and  addressing  himself 
personally  to  the  President,  remarked,  that  as  he  had  not 
made  a  solitary  objection  to  any  of  the  measures  which  had 
been  finally  adopted,  nor  a  single  observation  indicative  of 
disapprobation,  he  requested  that  he  would  now  assign  his 
reasons  for  refusing  to  sign  the  petition.  To  this  demand, 
the  President  replied  that  he  did  not  conceive  himself  bound 
to  state  the  cause  of  his  objections.  Mr.  McKean  rejoined 
that  the  gentlemen  present  had  met  together  to  endeavor  to 
obtain  the  repeal  of  an  unconstitutional  and  oppressive  act 
of  the  British  Parliament,  and  a  redress  of  other  grievances ; 
that  as  unanimity  and  harmony  had  hitherto  prevailed  among 
them,  it  appeared  very  extraordinary  that  any  member  should 
refuse  to  affix  his  name  to  what  he  had  at  least  apparently 
approved,  without  any  excuse,  or  observation,  on  the  occa- 
sion; and  that,  if  there  was  anything  treasonable,  offensive, 
or  indecent,  in  their  proceedings,  he  thought  it  would  be  an 
act  of  comity,  nay  of  duty,  to  advise  his  brethren  of  it. 
Other  delegates  spoke  briefly  to  the  same  purport.  Thus 
pressed  to  an  explanation,  the  President,  after  a  long  pause, 
observed  that  '  it  was  against  his  conscience.'  Mr.  McKean 
now  rung  the  changes  upon  the  word  conscience  so  long  and 
loud  that  a  plain  challenge  was  given  and  accepted,  in  the 
presence  of  the  whole  Congress;  but  the  President  departed 
from  New  York  the  next  morning  before  the  dawn  of  day." 
llobert  Ogden,  a  delegate  from  New  Jersey,  also  refused  to 
sign.  His  conduct  gave  gre,at  offence  to  his  constituents, 
and  he  was  burned  in  effigy  in  several  towns  throughout  the 
State. 

The  nerve  and  ability  displayed  by  Mr.  McKean  as  delegate 


THOMAS  McKEAN.  ,      293 

to  this  Congress  procured  for  him  the  warm  approval  of  his 
constituents,  and  a  unanimous  vote  of  thanks  from  the  As- 
sembly. It  insured  also  his  rapid  rise  in  public  preferment. 
In  July,  1765,  he  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  sole  Notary 
and  Tabellion  Public  for  the  lower  Counties  on  the  Delaware, 
and  in  the  same  year  was  commissioned  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and  of  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions,  for  the  County 
of  New  Castle.  It  was  at  the  period  when  the  people  of  the 
Colonies  were  greatly  excited  over  the  paralyzing  blow  about 
to  fall  in  the  taking  effect  of  the  Stamp  Act.  By  its  terms 
all  legal  papers,  to  be  of  validity,  must  be  executed  upon 
stamped  paper.  McKean  was  upon  the  bench  which  boldly 
issued  an  order  for  all  the  officers  of  the  court  to  proceed  in 
their  usual  duties,  using  unstamped  paper.  This  is  declared 
to  have  been  the  first  court  in  any  of  the  Colonies  which 
issued  such  an  order. 

The  early  settlements  upon  the  Delaware  having  been 
made  under  the  dominion  of  a  government  and  courts'  sitting 
in  New  York,  it  became  eventually  very  inconvenient  to 
consult  the  original  records.  Accordingly  the  Assembly,  in 
1769,  appointed  him  as  its  agent  to  proceed  thither  and 
make  copies  of  all  documents  relating  to  the  titles  of  real 
estate  in  the  Province.  These  copies  were  by  law  made  of 
equal  validity  with  the  original  records,  thus  superseding  all 
further  necessity  for  appeal  to  them. 

In  1771,  he  was  appointed  His  Majesty's  Commissioner  of 
Customs  and  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  Castle.  But  this 
office  was  of  but  limited  duration ;  for  the  Crown,  intent 
upon  asserting  the  right  to  tax,  imposed  an  insignificant 
one  to  establish  the  principle.  At  this  the  heart  of  America 
was  aroused  and  beat  in  indignation.  Tyranny  was  .scented 
in  the  breeze,  and  the  patriots  in  every  Colony  were  in  fre- 
quent correspondence  upon  the  measures  necessary  to  defeat 
the  fell  design.  Among  the  foremost  of  these  was  Mr. 
McKean,  and  when  delegates  came  to  be  appointed  to  the 
First  Continental  Congress,  which  sat  at  New  York  in  1774, 
he  was  selected  to  represent  Delaware.  A  little  previous 


i94      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CON&FITUTION  OF  1790. 

to  this  he  had  taken  up  his  permanent  residence  in  Phila- 
delphia; but  his  old  constituents  in  Delaware  still  claimed 
him  as  their  own,  and  he  accepted  their  choice,  and  through- 
out the  whole  period  of  the  Revolution,  and  until  after 
the  signing  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  a  space  of  eight  and  a 
half  years,  he  continued  to  represent  that  State  in  the  na- 
tional council,  though  residing  in  another.  It  is  found  upon 
examination  that  no  other  member  of  that  august  assemblage 
was  a  member  continuously,  from  the  opening  till  the  closing 
act.  During  all  this  period  he  devoted  himself  to  the  sacred 
cause  of  his  country,  giving  the  strength  of  his  mature  man- 
hood to  the  discharge  of  the  many  duties  thrown  upon  him, 
and  proving  himself  a  power  in  that  body  of  unequalled  men. 
He  was  particularly  useful  in  conducting  the  negotiations  of 
the  secret  committee  charged  with  procuring  arms  and  am- 
munition from  abroad,  and  in  managing  the  monetary  affairs 
of  the  new  nation, — two  of  the  most  important  and  difficult 
of  the  subjects  with  which  Congress  had  to  deal.  He  was 
of  the  committee  which  drew  the  Articles  of  Confederation 
that  bound  the  Colonies  together,  and  gave  to  Congress  the 
little  power  which  it  was  allowed  to  exercise. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  found  no  more  active 
advocate,  or  firm  supporter,  than  Mr.  McKean.  He  believed 
that  the  time  had  fully  come  for  adopting  it,  and  he  plead  in 
private,  as  well  as  in  public,  with  all  the  power  of  persuasion 
of  which  he  was  possessed,  to  draw  those  who  thought  the 
act  premature  to  accord  with  him.  Singularly  enough,  though 
he  was  one  of  the  most  active  in  securing  its  passage,  and 
was  present  when  the  final  votes  were  taken,  affixing  his 
signature  to  the  instrument  with  the  rest,  yet  in  the  printed 
journals  of  Congress,  embracing  this  document,  and  in  the 
acts  of  the  several  States,  his  name  does  not  appear  as  one  of 
the  signers.  In  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Alexander  J.  Dallas, 
in  answer  to  an  inquiry  made  relative  to  this  omission,  Mr. 
McKean  says :  "  My  name  is  not  in  the  printed  journals  of  Con- 
gress as  a  party  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  this, 
like  an  error  in  the  first  concoction,  has  vitiated  most  of  the 


THOMAS  McKEAN.  295 

subsequent  publications;  and  yet  the  fact  is,  thai  I  was  then  a 
member  of  Congress  for  the  State  of  Delaware,  was  person- 
ally present  in  Congress,  voted  in  favor  of  independence  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1776,  and  signed  the  Declaration  after  it  had 
been  engrossed  on  parchment,  where  my  name  in  my  own 
handwriting  still  appears."  It  is  interesting  to  trace  the 
manner  in  which  this  error  has  crept  into  the  public  records. 
It  appears  that  on  the  19th  of  July,  two  weeks  after  its  pas- 
sage, Congress  directed  that  a  copy  of  the  Declaration  should 
be  engrossed  on  parchment  and  signed  by  every  member. 
This  engrossed  copy  was  finished,  and  on  the  2d  of  August 
was  produced  and  signed.  But  previous  to  this  day,  McKean 
had  obtained  leave  of  absence,  being  then  an  officer  of  mili- 
tia, and  for  several  weeks  succeeding  he  was  not  in  his  place, 
he  being  absent  on  the  2d  of  August,  the  day  on  which  the 
engrossed  copy  was  signed.  He  returned  to  his  place  in 
October,  and  then  affixed  his  name  to  that  copy,  as  he  had 
also  to  the  original  one  on  the  4th  of  July.  It  is  probable, 
that  in  the  mean  time  copies  had  been  taken  for  publication 
as  signed  on  the  2d  of  August,  and  before  his  signature  was 
affixed.  But  his  presence  was  too  notorious  to  occasion  any 
question  as  to  the  fact,  even  without  his  own  testimony. 
When  the  preliminary  vote  was  taken  on  the  2d  of  July,  all 
the  States  declared  in  favor  of  it,  except  Pennsylvania  and 
Delaware.  The  latter  State  had  three  members.  Of  these 
McKean  voted  for  it,  Read  against  it,  and  Rodney,  the  third, 
was  absent.  Seeing  that  the  vote  of  his  State  was  likely  to 
be  lost,  McKean  sent  a  messenger  at  his  own  expense,  post- 
haste, to  summon  the  absent  member.  He  arrived  in  time 
to  vote  for  the  measure,  thus  carrying  the  State  in  its  favor; 
and  some  of  the  opposing  members  of  the  Pennsylvania 
delegation  absenting  themselves,  the  vote  was  finally  made 
unanimous. 

Where  his  influence  could  be  exercised  for  the  furtherance, 
of  the  cause  of  Independence,  there  was  his  voice  heard  and 
his  hand  felt.  In  a  convention  of  deputies  from  the  several 
counties  of  Pennsylvania,  assembled  in  Carpenter's  Hall,  in 


296      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

Philadelphia,  in  June,  1776,  he  was  chairman,  and  was  a  prime 
mover  in  securing  the  passage  of  resolutions  favorable  to,  and 
urging  the  adoption  of  a  Declaration.  The  regiment  of 
associators,  of  which  he  was  colonel,  passed  a  similar  resolu- 
tion. He  was  also  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Safety  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  of  the  Committee  of  Inspection  for  the 
City  of  Philadelphia. 

Having  uttered  the  word  Independence,  and  pledged  their 
lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honors  to  its  support, 
Congress  was  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  preparing  to 
strike  in  defence  of  their  resolves.  Accordingly  on  the  5th  of 
July,  the  day  following  that  on  which  the  Declaration  was 
adopted,  it  was  agreed  between  a  Committee  of  Congress  and 
a  Committee  of  Safety  of  Pennsylvania,  that  the  associated 
militia,  who  could  be  furnished  with  arms,  should  proceed 
without  delay  to  New  Jersey,  there  to  remain  until  a  flying 
camp  of  ten  thousand  men  could  be  formed  to  relieve  them. 
McKean  was  colonel  of  one  of  these  regiments,  and  promptly 
marched  at  its  head  to  Perth  Amboy,  to  the  support  of 
Washington.  The  lines  of  the  enemy  were  about  six  hun- 
dred yards  distant.  On  one  occasion  several  of  their  shallops 
were  discovered  sailing  along  the  opposite  shore  in  the 
direction  of  their  ships.  McKeari  received  orders  to  have 
his  men  in  readiness  to  march  at  a  moment's  warning,  and 
they  were  called  to  arms.  In  a  letter,  written  a  few  days 
later  from  camp,  he  thus  describes  the  event  which  followed: 
"  I  left  them,"  he  says,  "  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dean,  to 
be  marched  to  town,  whilst  I  mounted  my  horse,  and  waited 
on  the  General  for  orders.  On  the  road,  which  is  a  straight 
and  wide  lane,  (something  like  Market  Street,)  all  the  way 
from  the  camp  to  the  sound,  and  in  a  line  with  the  enemy's 
'batteries,  about  twenty  cannon-balls  flew  close  to  me,  some- 
times on  the  one  side,  sometimes  on  the  other,  and  some  just 
over  my  head.  I  confess  I  was  not  a  little  alarmed,  being 
the  first  time  that  I  had  ever  heard  a  cannon-ball,  but  clapped 
spurs  to  my  horse,  and  rode  on  amidst  the  balls  for  the 
General's,  where  orders  had  just  been  issued  to  halt  the 


THOMAS  McKEAK  297 

oattalion.  I  was  going  to  execute  them,  when,  on  turning 
round,  I  saw  a  horse  shot  through  the  neck  with  a  four- 
pounder  within  much  less  distance  than  the  width  of  Market 
Street  from  me.  The  fire  was  so  incessant,  and  so  direct  on 
the  street  that  I  had  to  return,  that  some  gentlemen  en- 
treated me  to  wait  a  short  time ;  but,  as  the  troops  under  my 
care  were  in  full  inarch,  and  Colonel  Miles'  battalion  close 
behind  them,  I  thought  it  my  duty  t®  stop  them,  as  some  of 
them  otherwise  would  probably  be  killed  without  a  chance 
of  effecting  any  beneficial  service.  On  my  return  I  found 
the  fire  hotter  than  before,  the  enemy  then  playing  from 
three  batteries  of  three  or  four  guns  each ;  but,  through 
God's  favor,  I  escaped  unhurt,  and  marched  the  troops  to 
the  camp." 

As  had  been  previously  arranged,  as  soon  as  the  flying 
camp  was  recruited,  it  took  the  place  of  the  Associate rs,  and 
they  returned  home,  McKean  resuming  his  seat  in  Congress, 
and  affixing  his  name  to  the  parchment-copy  of  the  Declara- 
tion which  had  been  generally  sighed  on  the  2d  of  August 
during  his  absence  in  camp.  But  new  cares  awaited  him. 
"  He  found  upon  his  return,"  says  the  biographer  above 
quoted,  "  that  he  had  been  elected  a  member  of  the  Conven- 
tion for  forming  a  constitution  for  the  State  of  Delaware. 
He  accordingly  departed  for  Dover  on  the  second  day  after 
arriving  home.  Immediately  on  his  arrival,  after  a  fatiguing 
ride,  a  committee  of  gentlemen  waited  on  him,  and  requested 
that  he  would  prepare  a  constitution  for  the  future  Govern 
ment  of  the  State.  To  this  he  consented.  He  retired  to  his 
room  in  the  tavern,  sat  up  all  night,  and  having  prepared  it 
without  a  book  or  any  assistance  whatever,  presented  it 
at  ten  o'clock  next  morning  to  the  House,  when  it  was 
unanimously  adopted."  Had  a  feat  like  this  been  performed 
in  the  ages  of  antiquity,  it  would  have  been  heralded  as 
having  been  done  with  the  aid  of  some  god,  or  the  favored 
one  would  himself  have  been  deified. 

The  manifestation  of  ability  to  perform  herculean  labors, 
brought  him  an  endless  variety  of  public  employments,  and 


298    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF 

these  not  confined  to  one  State.  Early  in  August,  1777,  he 
was  tendered  the  office  of  Chief-Justice  of  Pennsylvania. 
His  friends  urged  his  acceptance.  "  Upon  the  whole,"  he 
says,  in  a  letter  to  John  Dickinson,  "  to  prevent  the  least 
suspicion  that  I  was  against  any  government  but  such  as  I 
framed  myself,  and  that  I  wanted  to  embroil  the  State,  and 
occasion  disaffection  to  the  common  cause,  which  had  been 
liberally  propagated,  a»d  to  evidence  that  I  had  nothing  in 
view  but  to  promote  the  happiness  of  my  country,  I  thought 
it  rny  duty  (though  manifestly  against  my  interest)  to  imitate 
the  great  Lord  Hale,  when  pressed  to  the  like  by  Cromwell, 
and  was  for  the  same,  and  better  reasons,  prevailed  with  to 
accept  it."  The  duties  of  the  office  which  he  thus  entered 
upon,  he  continued  to  fulfil  for  the  long  period  of  twenty- 
two  years.  He  was  during  the  same  year  chosen  President 
of  the  State  of  Delaware,  so  that,  in  addition  to  being  a 
member  of  Congress  and  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  the  chief  magistrate  of  another  common- 
wealth. The  British  army  was  now  occupying  Philadelphia; 
and  to  discharge  the  several  duties  thus  imposed,  and  elude 
the  vigilance  of  the  enemy,  required  the  most  untiring  cir- 
cumspection. In  a  letter  to  John  Adams,  written  some  time 
afterwards,  he  says :  "  I  have  had  my  full  share  of  the  anxie- 
ties, cares,  and  troubles  of  the  present  war.  For  some  time 
I  was  obliged  to  act  as  President  of  the  Delaware  State,  and 
as  Chief  Justice  of  this.  General  Howe  had  just  landed 
(August,  1777,)  at  the  head  of  Elk  River,  when  I  undertook 
to  discharge  these  two  important  trusts.  The  consequence 
was  to  be  hunted  like  a  fox  by  the  enemy,  and  envied  by 
those  who  ought  to  have  been  my  friends.  I  was  compelled 
to  move  my  family  five  times  in  a  few  months,  and  at  last 
fixed  them  in  a  little  log-house  on  the  banks  of  the  Susque- 
hanna,  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from  this  place;  but 
safety  was  not  to  be  found  there,  for  they  were  soon  obliged 
to  remove  again  on  account  of  the  incursions  of  the  In- 
dians." 

On  the  25th  of  December,  1780,  he  addressed  a  letter  to 


THOMAS  McKEAN. 

the  Legislature  of  Delaware,  expressing  his  "ardent  wish" 
that  they  would  excuse  him  from  further  attendance  as  their 
delegate  in  Congress,  and  that  they  would  elect  some  person 
to  succeed  him.  Or,  if  they  desired  that  he  should  continue 
to  represent  them,  that  they  would  appoint  some  one  to  oc- 
cupy his  place  while  he  was  absent  upon  the  Supreme  Court 
Circuit  of  Pennsylvania,  and  to  allow  him  some  relaxation 
from  excessive  toil  at  other  times,  when  needed.  He  pleaded 
his  inability  to  perform  so  many  duties  to  his  satisfaction, 
and  that  the  rank  he  was  obliged  to  maintain  was  such  that 
his  income  from  all  his  offices  was  insufficient.  This  request 
was  not  acceded  to,  and  he  continued  to  represent  the  State, 
though  the  complaint  of  lack  of  salary  failed  to  have  its 
effect;  for  during  two  years,  1779  and  1780,  he  received 
nothing  whatever  for  his  services. 

The  effort  to  be  relieved  of  his  Congressional  labors, 
instead  of  resulting  in  his  discharge,  was  followed  by  an 
increase  of  its  burdens;  for  on  the  10th  of  July,  1781,  he  was 
elected  President  of  Congress.  The  duties  of  this  position 
he  continued  to  discharge  until  near  the  close  of  October, 
when,  the  time  having  arrived  for  the  opening  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania,  he  communicated  to  Congress  his 
resignation  as  President.  He  was,  however,  prevailed  upon 
to  continue  to  preside  until  the  1st  of  November,  when  he 
was  released,  and  John  Hanson  was  elected  to  succeed  him. 

The  period  during  which  McKean  exercised  the  functions 
of  Chief  Justice,  was  one  of  the  most  important  and  trying 
in  the  whole  course  of  jurisprudence  in  the  Commonwealth. 
It  was  at  the  time  when  the  laws  were  unsettled,  even  the 
constitutions  of  States  undefined,  and  national  existence  it- 
self was  in  question.  The  country  was  in  the  midst  of  a 
revolution  when  he  came  to  the  Bench,  and  for  several  years 
the  civil  was  necessarily  subordinate  to  military  rule.  Hence 
the  interpretation  of  organic  and  statute  law  had  to  be  made 
de  novo,  precedents  had  to  be  established,  and  the  whole 
practice  of  the  Courts  adapted  to  the  changed  relations  which 
existed.  The  causes  which  were  brought  in  his  Court  were 


300    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

many  of  them  peculiar  to  a  period  of  war  and  conquest,  causes 
involving  the  most  delicate  questions,  vital  alike  to  the  rights 
of  the  subject,  and  the  vindication  of  justice.  Trials  for  high 
treason,  for  attainder,  for  the  confiscation  of  property,  were 
frequent.  A  case,  rarely  transcended  .in  importance  and 
amount  involved  in  any  nation  or  in  any  age,  was  the  for- 
feiture of  the  Proprietary  possessions.  The  rulings  of  the 
Chief  Justice  throughout  all  this  trying  period,  and  in  these 
difficult  causes,  were  marked  by  great  prudence  and  wisdom. 
"  Chief-Justice  McKean,"  says  a  late  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania,  "  was  a  great  man ;  his  merit  in  the 
profession  of  the  law,  and  as  a  judge,  has  never  been  suffi- 
ciently appreciated.  It  is  only  since  I  have  been  upon  the 
Bench  that  I  have  been  able  to  conceive  a  just  idea  of  the 
greatness  of  his  merit.  His  legal  learning  was  profound  and 
accurate,  but,  in  the  words  of  the  poet, — 

Materiam  superabat  opus. 

The  lucidity  of  his  explication,  and  the  perspicuity  of  his 
language,  which  is  the  first  excellence  in  the  communication 
of  ideas,  was  perfect ;  but  I  never  saw  equalled  his  dignity 
of  manner,  in  delivering  a  charge  to  a  jury,  or  on  a  law 
argument  to  the  Bar.  But,  what  is  still  more,  his  compre- 
hension of  mind  in  taking  notes,  so  as  to  embrace  the  sub- 
stance, yet  omit  nothing  material,  has  appeared  to  me  in- 
imitable." 

In  1787,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  several  States  for  ratification  or  rejection.  It 
had  met  violent  opposition  in  the  Convention  where  it  was 
framed,  and  many  of  its  provisions  were  discussed  with  much 
heat  in  the  public  journals.  It  was  only  by  the  exercise  of  a 
sublime  moderation  and  prudence  by  the  leaders  in  the 
Convention  that  it  was  finally  adopted.  Opposition  was 
anticipated  in  the  ratifying  Conventions.  The  friends  of  the 
instrument  were  active  in  magnifying  its  excellencies  and  in 
defending  what  were  deemed  its  defects.  Especial  care  was 
exercised  in  electing  the  ablest  and  most  prudent  men  as 


THOMAS  McKEAN.  301 

delegates.  Chief-Justice  McKean  was  a  member  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Convention,  and  took  a  leading  part  in  favor 
of  its  adoption.  In  the  course  of  the  debates  which  occurred, 
ho  delivered  an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  argument  upon 
the  results  which  were  likely  to  follow  if  it  should  prevail. 
In  concluding  his  appeal,  he  said :  "  The  law,  sir,  has 
been  my  study  from  my  infancy,  and  my  only  profession. 
I  have  gone  through  the  circle  of  office,  in  the  legislative, 
executive,  and  judicial  departments  of  government;  and 
from  all  my  study,  observation,  and  experience,  I  must  de- 
clare that,  from  a  full  examination  and  due  consideration  of 
this  system,  it  appears  to  me  the  best  that  the  world  has  yet 
seen.  I  congratulate  you  on  the  fair  prospect  of  its  being 
adopted,  and  am  happy  in  the  expectation  of  seeing  accom- 
plished what  has  been  long  my  ardent  wish, — that  you  will 
hereafter  have  a  salutary  permanency  in  magistracy  and 
stability  in  the  laws." 

The  Constitution  of  the  State,  adopted  in  1776,  proving 
defective,  in  1789  a  convention  met  for  remodelling  it,  or 
framing  a  new  one.  A  single  Assembly  and  an  Executive 
Council  without  a  head  capable  of  interposing  a  negative  upon 
legislation,  was  in  many  respects  inefficient.  Two  Houses  of 
Assembly,  with  a  single.  Executive  clothed  with  the  veto 
power,  were  advocated  and  finally  substituted.  The  principal 
discussion  was  carried  on  in  committee,  and  over  this  Judge 
McKean  presided.  Cut  off  thus  from  mingling  freely  in  the 
debates,  he  contented  himself  with  voting  in  favor  of  the  fea- 
tures indicated  above,  only  claiming  the  floor  upon  points  of 
special  importance.  He  opposed  all  unnecessary  alterations. 
"  In  general,"  he  said,  "  I  dislike  innovations,  especially  in 
the  administration. of  justice;  and  I  would  avoid  tampering 
with  constitutions  of  governments  as  with  edge-tools."  One 
of  the  most  important  features  embodied  in  the  new  Consti- 
tution, and  the  one  for  which  its  framers  will  deserve  the 
thanks  of  successive  generations,  so  long  as  its  beneficent  pro- 
visions are  permitted  to  hold  sway,  was  that  "  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  schools  throughout  the  State,  in  such  a  manner 


302    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF 1790. 

that  the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis."     This  proposition  was 
introduced  and  advocated  by  Judge  McKean. 

In  1799,  the  election  for  Governor  resulted  in  the  choice 
of  Judge  McKean;  whereupon  he  laid  aside  the  judicial 
robes,  which,  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  he  had  worn 
with  becoming  dignity,  and  assumed  those  of  the  guberna- 
torial office.  In  politics  he  belonged  to  that  school  of  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  was  a  leading  exponent,  and  the  election  of  the 
latter  was  a  result  of  the  movement  begun  in  the  choice  of 
McKean  in  Pennsylvania.  In  reply  to  an  address  made  to 
him  by  an  assembly  of  citizens  soon  after  the  result  of  the 
election  was  known,  he  said :  "  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  Pennsylvania,  shall  be  the  rule  of  my 
government;  the  security  of  persons,  property,  liberty,  and 
reputation,  my  chiefest  care ;  and  my  best  endeavors  shall  be 
exerted  to  fulfil  all  your  reasonable  and  just  expectations." 
In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Dickinson,  written  not  long  after  being 
settled  in  office,  he  says :  "  Though  my  situation  in  life  is 
changed,  my  cares  remain  :  I  have  never  had  greater  employ- 
ment for  body  and  mind,  than  for  the  last  six  months,  unless 
when  I  was  President  of  Congress.  I  have  waded  through  a 
sea  of  troubles,  and  surmounted  my  principal  difficulties.  I 
have  been  obliged  (though  no  Hercules)  to  cleanse  the  Au- 
gean stable,  with  little  or  no  aid ;  for  I  am  my  own  minister 
and  amanuensis.  A  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  has  more 
duty  to  perform  than  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or 
any  other  Governor  in  the  Union."  The  particular  labor 
which  he  refers  to  in  this  passage  was  one  which  occasioned 
sharp  criticism.  The  doctrine  that  in  politics  "  to  the  victor 
belong  the  spoils,"  was  not  at  that  time  well  established.  The 
early  virtues  of  the  republic,  which  recognized  merit  in 
political  friend  and  opponent  alike,  were  not  yet  entirely  dis- 
carded. But  it  was  beginning  at  this  period  to  be  warmly 
espoused,  and  McKean  did  not  hesitate  to  act  largely  upon  it, 
and  to  openly  defend  his  course.  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson, 
in  July,  1801,  then  President  of  the  United  States,  he  says :  "  It 
appear.?  that  the  an ti -Republicans,  even  those  in  office,  are  ap 


THOMAS  McKEAK  303 

hostile  as  ever,  though  not  so  insolent.  To  overcome  them 
they  must  be  shaven,  for  in  their  offices  (like  Samson's  hair- 
locks)  their  great  strength  lieth ;  their  disposition  for  mis- 
chief may  remain,  but  their  power  of  doing  it  will  be  gone. 
It  is  out  of  the  common  order  of  nature,  to  prefer  enemies 
to  friends ;  the  despisers  of  the  people  should  not  be  their 
rulers,  nor  men  be  vested  with  authority,  in  a  government 
which  they  wish  to  destroy.  A  dagger  ought  not  to  be  put 
into  the  hands  of  an  assassin. — Sayings  of  this  import  are  in 
the  mouths  of  everybody;  and  self-preservation  seems  to 
demand  some  attention  to  them." 

His  purpose  in  removing  opponents  was  not  to  make 
places  merely  for  political  friends,  but  to  secure  efficiency 
and  harmony  to  his  rule.  For  when  the  affairs  of  his  admin- 
istration once  became  settled,  he  did  not  adhere  exclusively 
to  his  own  party  in  making  his  appointments,  but  selected 
from  among  his  political  opponents  when  he  could  thereby 
secure  a  man  of  greater  usefulness.  He  twice  elevated  to  the 
position  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  State,  gentlemen  whose  po- 
litical views  were  adverse  to  his  own. 

During  his  third  and  last  term  of  office  the  Governor  was 
subjected  to  very  severe  criticism  for  some  of  his  official  acts, 
and  some  alleged  to  have  been  committed.  Party  feeling  was 
never  more  bitter  than  at  that  time.  It  is  doubtful  if  more 
acrimony  has  ever  been  evinced.  Finally,  the  Assembly 
preferred  articles  of  impeachment  against  him.  They  were 
chiefly  allegations  of  political  offences.  They  were  referred 
to  a  committee,  and  the  reports  made  were  debated  from 
time  to  time,  but  he  was  never  brought  to  trial,  and  finally, 
as  an  answer  to  the  charges  made  and  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee, he  submitted  to  the  Assembly  an  elaborate  paper  de- 
fining in  a  most  lucid  manner  the  powers  and  duties  of  the 
several  branches  of  the  government,  legislative,  judicial,  and 
executive,  and  defining  clearly  impeachable  offences.  This 
replication  was  read  and  ordered  by  a  considerable  majority 
to  be  entered  upon  its  minutes,  and  thus  the  subject  rested. 
The  paper  which  was  drawn  forth  from  the  Governor  is  re- 


304    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

garded  with  great  favor  by  professional  men,  and  is  quoted 
as  authority  upon  the  questions  of  which  it  treats. 

The  Governor  was  always  an  earnest  advocate  of  common- 
school  education.  As  already  noticed  he  introduced  the 
clause  into  the  Constitution  authorizing  the  establishment  of 
a  83rstem,  and  he  lost  no  opportunity  of  urging  the  Legisla- 
ture to  action,  as  his  predecessor  Governor  Mifflin  had  done 
before  him.  In  his  message  of  November,  1800,  he  said: 
"  Considering  the  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge  among  the 
people  to  be  the  best  auxiliary  to  the  administration  of  a  free 
government,  allow  me,  gentlemen,  to  remind  you  of  a  con- 
stitutional injunction,  '  That  the  Legislature  shall,  as  soon  as 
conveniently  may  be,  provide  by  law  for  the  establishment 
of  schools  through  the  State,  in  such  manner,  that  the  poor 
may  be  taught  gratis.' '  This  recommendation  he  continued 
to  iterate;  but  the  contentions  of  party,  and  the  making  of 
provision  for  the  State  and  national  debts  consequent  upon 
the  war,  prevented  action  from  being  directly  taken  thereon. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  third  term,  after  having  been  ele- 
vated to  offices  the  most  honorable  and  dignified  known  to 
government,  and  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-men  in 
a  manner  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  politics,  he  retired 
altogether  from  public  employments.  In  his  final  message  to 
the  Legislature,  he  said  :  "  In  my  last  personal  communica- 
tion to  the  Legislature,  probably  in  the  last  important  public 
act  of  my  life,  I  shall  be  indulged,  I  hope,  in  claiming  some 
credit  for  feelings  corresponding  with  the  solemnity  of  the 
occasion.  It  has  been  my  lot  to  witness  the  progress  of  our 
country,  from  a  Colonial  to  a  national  character,  through  the 
ordeal  of  many  trials  in  peace  and  in  war.  It  has  been  my  hap- 
piness to  enjoy  the  favor  and  the  confidence  of  our  country, 
in  the  most  arduous,  as  well  as  in  the  most  auspicious  stages 
of  her  political  career.  Thus  attached  by  every  tie  of  honor 
and  of  gratitude,  by  all  the  motives  of  social  interest  and  af- 
fection, I  contemplate  the  future  destinies  of  our  country 
with  a  proud  but  an  anxious  expectation.  My  day  of  exer- 
tion (of  feeble  exertion  at  the  best)  is  past ;  but  for  our  fel- 


THOMAS  McKEAN.  305 

ow-eitizens,  and  for  their  representatives  in  every  department 
of  the  government,  I  can  only  cease  to  implore  the  blessing 
of  Providence  when  I  cease  to  exist." 

Governor  McKean  had  always  preserved  an  abiding  friend- 
ship for  John  Adams.  In  the  trying  days  of  the  Revolution 
they  had  been  in  close  political  accord.  In  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Adams,  written  in  1812,  the  following  testimony  to  this  is 
borne.  "  Nearly  thirty-eight  years  ago  our  friendship  com- 
menced. It  has  never  been  interrupted,  to  -my  knowledge, 
but  by  one  event.  Among  all  the  gentlemen  with  whom  I 
have  acted  and  lived  in  the  world,  I  know  not  any  two,  who 
have  more  uniformly  agreed  in  sentiment  upon  political  prin- 
ciples, forms  of  government,  and  national  policy,  than  you  and 
I  have  done,  except  upon  one  great  subject;  a  most  important 
and  momentous  one,  to  be  sure :  that  subject  was  the  French 
Revolution.  This  at  the  first  appearance  of  it  you  thought  a 
1  minister  of  grace ; '  I  fully  believed  it  to  be  a  '  goblin 
damned ! ' J  In  his  reply  to  this,  Governor  McKean  said :  "  I 
declare,  with  pleasure,  and  also  with  pride,  that  I  embraced 
the  political  sentiments  of  none,  with  more  satisfaction  (being 
congenial  with  my  own)  than  yours;  nor  do  I  recollect  a 
single  question  on  which  we  differed.  It  is  true  I  was  a 
friend  to  the  Revolution  in  France,  from  the  Assembly  of  the 
Notables  (1787)  until  the  king  was  decapitated  (1794),  which 
I  deemed  not  only  a  very  atrocious,  but  an  absurd  act.  After 
that,  I  remained  in  a  kind  of  apathy,  with  regard  to  the 
leaders  of  the  different  parties,  until  I  clearly  perceived  that 
that  nation  was  then  incapable  of  being  ruled  by  a  popular 
government ;  and  when  a  few,  and  afterwards  an  individual, 
•assumed  despotic  sway  over  them,  I  thought  them  in  a  situa- 
tion better  than  under  the  government  of  a  mob ;  for  I  would 
prefer  any  kind  of  government  to  such  a  state ;  —  even  a 
tyranny  to  anarchy.  On  this  subject,  then,  I  do  not  conceive 
we  differed  widely.  I  do  assure  you  that  I  venerate  our 
early  friendship,  and  am  happy  in  the  continuance  of  it." 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Adams,  written  in  June  of  the  same  year, 
he  said :  "  Three  years  aaro  I  shook  hands  with  the  world, 
20 


306    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

and  we  said  farewell  to  each  other:  the  toys  and  rattles  of 
childhood  would,  in  a  few  years  more,  be  prohahly  as  suit- 
able to  me,  as  office,  honor,  or  wealth ;  but  (thank  God)  the 
faculties  of  my  mind  are,  as  yet,  little,  if  anything  impaired, 
and  my  affections  and  friendships  remain  unshaken.  Since 
my  exemption  from  official  and  professional  duties,  I  have 
enjoyed  a  tranquillity  never  (during  a  long,  protracted  life) 
heretofore  experienced;  and  my  wealth  and  comforts  are 
sufficient  for  a  moderate  man." 

For  a  man  of  so  varied  and  such  great  labors  his  lergth 
of  life  was  remarkable,  and  illustrates  the  maxim  that  sloth, 
hV  e  rust,  consumes  faster  than  labor  wears.  He  died  on  the 
24th  of  June,  1817,  aged  eighty-three  years,  two  months,  and 
sixteen  days,  and  was  buried  in  the  grounds  of  the  Presby- 
terian church  in  Market  Street,  Philadelphia.  "  In  person," 
says  his  biographer,  "  Mr.  McKean  was  tall,  erect,  and  well 
proportioned.  His  countenance  displayed,  in  a  remarkable 
manner,  the  firmness  and  intelligence  for  which  he  was  dis- 
tinguished. His  manners  were  impressive  and  dignified. 
In  the  month  of  July,  1762,  he  married  Mary,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Joseph  Borden,  Esq.,  of  Bordentown,  New  Jer- 
sey, who  died  in  February,  1773,  leaving  two  sons  and  four 
daughters,  the  youngest  of  whom  was  only  two  weeks  old. 
On  Thursday  the  3d  of  September,  1774,  he  was  again 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Sarah  Armitage,  of  New  Castle, 
in  Delaware ;  five  children  were  the  offspring  of  this  union." 

Of  Mr.  McKean's  character,  i^one  knew  better  than  the 
great  compatriots  with  whom  he  acted,  and  who  have  left 
ample  testimony.  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  a  letter  written  in  April, 
1824,  but  two  years  before  his  own  death,  says  of  him,  "  The 
general  remembrance  can  never  be  obliterated,  that  he  was 
among  the  soundest  and  most  zealous  of  the  republicans, 
with  whom  it  has  been  mj  fortune  to  act  through  life."  And 
President  John  Adams,  in  a  letter  written  in  the  same  year  to 
Mr.  McKean's  son,  says :  "  Your  father  and  Caesar  Rodney 
were  among  the  Patrick  Henrys,  the  Christopher  Gadsdens, 
the  Thomas  Jeffersons,  the  Samuel  Adamses,  the  Roger 


THOMAS  McKEAN.  307 

Shermans, —  the  best  tried  and  firmest  pillars  of  the  Revolu- 
tion." In  the  course  of  his  life  Mr.  McKean  was  made  a 
member  of  many  learned  societies,  and  associations  devoted 
to  the  amelioration  and  advancement  of  mankind.  In  1781, 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  was  conferred  upon  him  by  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  and  in  the  following  year  the  same 
degree  was  conferred  by  Dartmouth  College,  New  Hampshire. 
The  Trustees  of  the  latter  institution,  in  communicating  the 
bestowal  of  the  honor,  said :  "  Impressed  with  an  exalted 
opinion  of  those  singular  talents  which  nature  has  allotted 
you ;  of  those  acquirements  which  you  have  gained  by  appli- 
cation; and  of  that  patriotic  virtue,  which  has  remained  in- 
flexible through  the  storms  of  adversity,  the  honorable  Board 
of  Trustees  of  this  University  request  jour  acceptance  of 
a  feeble  testimonial  of  your  merit." 

It  is  rare,  and  perhaps  unexampled,  that  a  man  has  public 
offices  heaped  upon  him  as  they  were  upon  Thomas  McKean. 
He  was  President  of  Delaware,  and  Governor  of  Pennsylva- 
nia; member  of  Congress  from  Delaware  for  a  period  of  over 
eight  years,  and  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania  for*  twenty- 
two, —  offices  each  in  itself  of  sufficient  dignity  to  satisfy  the 
ambition  of  the  most  gifted ;  and  yet  to  him  they  seemed 
appropriately  awarded ;  for  in  an  age  of  giants  he  appeared 
among  the  most  conspicuous.  The  services  of  such  a  man 
are  the  proud  heritage  of  Pennsylvania,  a  heritage  thtt  illu- 
mines some  of  the  brightest  pages  of  her  history. 


SIMON  SNYDER, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION   OF   1790, 

December  20,  1808,  to  December  16,  1817. 

AT  an  early  day  German  emigrants  to  America  very  gen- 
erally settled  in  Pennsylvania.  Of  all  the  Colonies  thia 
had  the  greatest  proportion  of  German  population.  Simon 
Snyder  was  the  first  Governor  selected  from  the  descendants  of 
that  nationality.  He  was,  too,  the  first  who  was  taken  from 
the  ranks  of  the  laboring  class,  having  risen  by  toil  from  the 
most  humble  beginning,  and  known  by  experience  the  hard 
lot  of  the  lowly. 

He  was  born  at  Lancaster,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1759. 
His  father,  Anthony  Snyder,  was  a  respectable  mechanic,  who 
came  to  America  from  the  Palatinate,  in  1758.  His  mother, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Knippenberg,  was  born  near  Oppen- 
heim,  Germany.  Of  five  children,  the  offspring  of  this 
marriage,  Simon  was  the  fourth.  The  father  died  in  1774, 
and  two  years  after,  the  son,  then  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
removed  from  Lancaster  to  the  town  of  York,  in  the  adjoin- 
ing county,  whore  he  remained  for  eight  years.  Here  he 
learned  the  business  of  a  tanner  and  currier,  serving  faith- 
fully an  apprenticeship  of  four  years,  without  being  bound 
by  any  indenture  or  written  agreement,  evincing  thus  early  a 
steadfastness  of  character,  and  a  faith  that  wTas  auspicious. 
At  a  night  school,  kept  by  John  Jones,  a  worthy  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends,  he  was  taught  reading,  writing,  and 
arithmetic,  and  made  some  progress  in  higher  mathematics. 
His  industry  at  this  period  was  very  great,  and  often  at  the 
midnight  hour,  after  a  hard  day's  work,  he  was  still  at  hia 
books,  and  his  Sundaj  -  were  usually  devoted  to  study. 

308 


SIMON  SNYDER.  309 

In  July,  1784,  he  removed  to  Selinsgrove,  then  Northum- 
berland County,  since  Union,  now  Snyder,  the  two  latter 
having  been  successively  erected  out  of  territory  of  the  for- 
mer, and  the  last  having  been  named  in  honor  of  that  then 
nameless  young  man.  Here  he  opened  a  store,  and  became 
the  owner  of  a  mill.  By  his  good  sense  and  excellent  busi- 
ness habits,  he  soon  acquired  influence  with  his  fellow-men, 
and  was  often  consulted  in  questions  of  difficulty.  He  had 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  simpler  legal  forms,  and  was 
frequently  employed  as  a  scrivener.  Quiet  and  unassuming 
in  deportment,  he  was  still  ever  ready  to  interest  himself  in 
behalf  of  the  poor  and  those  in  distress.  Recognizing  his 
admirable  fitness  for  the  position,  he  was  finally  elected  unani- 
mously by  the  freeholders  of  a  large  district,  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  and  for  twelve  years  continued  to  officiate  with  great 
acceptability.  So  universally  were  his  decisions  respected 
that  no  appeal  was  ever  made  from  any  judgment  of  his  to 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  but  a  single  writ  of  certiorari 
was  sued  out  in  all  that  time,  though  the  inhabitants  were 
of  that  restless  class  which  are  always  in  the  lead  in  the  tide 
of  civilization.  In  the  numerous  actions  brought  before 
him  for  petty  criminal  offences,  his  efforts  to  reconcile  the 
contending  parties  so  generally  prevailed,  that  he  made  return 
to  the  court  of  but  two  recognizances. 

In  1789,  Mr.  Snyder  was  elected  a  member  of  the  conven- 
tion which  framed  the  State  Constitution  of  the  following 
year,  and  though  but  a  novice  in  politics,  and  little  skilled  in 
the  management  of  deliberative  bodies,  yet  his  votes  and  his 
personal  influence  were  uniformly  given  in  the  interest  of 
enlightened  statesmanship,  and  he  showed  himself,  as  we 
might  anticipate,  a  conscientious  and  painstaking  represen- 
tative of  the  popular  will. 

In  1797,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, of  which  body,  in  1802,  he  was  chosen  Speaker. 
The  duties  of  this  office,  he  was  enabled,  by  his  ready  memory 
and  strong  native  sense,  to  discharge  with  great  acceptability. 
While  he  was  in  the  chair,  was  passed  the  Act  commonly 


310    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

known  as  the  Hundred  Dollar  Act,  which  originated  with 
him,  and  of  which  he  was  a  warm  advocate.  It  embodied 
the  arbitration  principle,  and  provided  for  the  trial  of  causes 
where  the  a'mount  in  question  was  less  than  one  hundred  dol- 
lars, before  a  justice  of  the  peace.  MeKean,  who  was  then 
Governor,  opposed  this  measure,  and  though  the  party  in  the 
Legislature  which  passed  it  was  the  party  which  had  elevated 
him  to  power,  the  controversy  over  it  was  spirited  and  bitter, 
producing  an  estrangement,  which,  being  aggravated  by 
other  differences,  finally  resulted  in  the  complete  severance 
of  party  ties,  the  Governor  identifying  himself  with  the  Fed- 
eralists, and  the  Jefferson  Democrats,  or  Republicans  as  they 
were  then  called,  repudiating  him  entirely. 

Snyder  continued  to  preside  over  the  House  until  1805, 
when,  by  his  energy  and  sturdy  qualities  exhibited  in  cham- 
pioning the  Hundred  Dollar  Act,  and  other  measures,  being 
recognized  as  a  fit  leader  on  a  broader  theatre,  he  was  nomi- 
nated for  Governor  in  opposition  to  McKean.  The  latter  was 
elected  by  barely  five  thousand  majority,  but  the  excellent 
run  made  by  Snyder  demonstrated  unmistakably  that  he 
was  strong  with  the  people.  He  continued  to  be  elected  to 
the  House  and  to  be  annually  selected  as  its  Speaker  until 
1808,  when  he  was  again  nominated  for  Governor,  the  oppo- 
site party  being  led  by  James  Ross,  of  Pittsburg,  a  man  of 
the  greatest  respectability  and  eminence.  The  result  was 
the  election  of  Snyder  by  a  majority  of  over  twenty-four 
thousand  votes.  He  was  re-elected  in  1811,  and  again  in 
1814,  by  overwhelming  majorities,  serving  the  full  constitu- 
tional period  of  nine  years. 

Early  in  his  administration,  Governor  Snyder  found  him- 
self in  conflict  with  the  national  authority,  in  a  controversy 
which  grew  out  of  a  Revolutionary  claim ;  and  had  a  less 
prudent  and  judicious  man  been  in  the  gubernatorial  chair, 
it  might  have  resulted  in  the  most  serious  consequences. 
Four  American  seamen  had  been  taken  on  board  the  British 
ship  Active,  on  its  way  from  Jamaica  to  New  York,  in  the 
year  1778,  who,  when  off  the  coast  of  Delaware,  overpowered 


SIMON  SNYDER.  311 

t  le  officers  and  the  rest  of  the  crew,  and  were  taking  their 
prize  in,  when  it  was  seized  by  Captain  Houston,  of  the 
American  ship  Convention,  who  took  it  to  port,  and  libelled 
it  for  himself,  seamen,  and  State  of  Pennsylvania.  Gideon 
Uiastead,  one  of  the  four  seamen,  resisted  this  action  on  the 
part  of  himself  and  fellows.  The  case  went  to  a  jury,  where 
it  was  decided  that  Umstead  and  his  associates  should  have 
one-fourth  of  the  prize  mone}7,  and  the  other  party  the  re- 
mainder. To  this  Umstead  would  doubtless  have  acceded ; 
but  at  this  juncture  Benedict  Arnold,  then  in  command  in 
Philadelphia,  bought  the  claim  of  the  four  seamen,  and  had 
application  made  to  Congress  for  revisal  of  the  judgment  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Court  of  Admiralty.  This  was  effected, 
and  the  entire  prize  money  was  awarded  to  the  four  seamen. 
For  his  connection  with  this  case,  Arnold  was  first  suspected 
of  a  treacherous  character.  The  three-fourths  of  the  prize 
money,  according  to  the  decision  of  the  Pennsylvania  Court, 
was  guaranteed  to  the  original  claimants;  and  this  the 
Governor  felt  himself  bound  to  execute.  But  before  any 
collision  occurred,  he  transmitted  the  record  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Legislature  in  the  case  to  President  Madison, 
who  made  the  following  reply,  dated  April  13th,  1809: 
"  SIR,  —  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  6th  instant, 
accompanied  by  certain  Acts  of  the  Legislature  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, which  will  be  laid  before  Congress  according  to  the 
desire  expressed.  Considering  our  respective  relations  to 
the  subject  of  these  communications,  it  would  be  unneces- 
sary, if  not  improper,  to  enter  into  any  of  the  questions  con- 
nected with  it.  It  is  sufficient  in  the  actual  posture  of  the 
case  to  remark,  that  the  .Executive  of  the  United  States  is 
not  only  unauthorized  to  prevent  the  execution  of  a  decree 
sanctioned  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  but 
is  expressly  enjoined  by  statute  to  carry  into  effect  any  such 
decree  when  opposition  may  be  made  to  it.  It  is  a  propi- 
tious circumstance,  therefore,  that  whilst  no  legal  discretion 
lies  with  the  Executive  of  the  United  States  to  decline  steps 
which  might  lead  to  a  very  painful  issue,  a  provision  has 


312      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

been  made  by  the  legislative  act  transmitted  by  you,  adequate 
to  the  removal  of  the  existing  difficulty;  and  I  feel  great 
pleasure  in  assuring  myself  that  the  authority  which  it  gives 
will  be  exercised  in  a  spirit  corresponding  with  the  patriotic 
character  of  the  State  over  which  you  preside.  Be  pleased, 
sir,  to  accept  assurances  of  my  respectful  consideration." 

The  issue  of  the  case  is  thus  briefly  and  clearly  stated  by 
the  Governor  in  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature  of 
1810  :  "  On  the  27th  of  February  last,  the  Executive  commu- 
nicated to  the  Legislature  that,  in  consequence  of  proceedings 
had  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  an  attach 
ment  would  be  issued  against  the  executrices  of  the  late  Mr. 
Rittenhouse,  formerly  Treasurer  of  this  State,  to  compel  them 
to  pay  to  (jideon  Umstead  and  others,  the  money  which  they 
had  paid  into  the  State  Treasury,  in  obedience  to  an  Act 
passed  the  2d  day  of  April,  1803,  which  Act,  in  the  name  of 
this  Commonwealth,  guaranteed  an  indemnification  to  the 
said  executrices  from  any  process  whatever  issued  out  of  any 
Federal  Court,  in  consequence  of  their  obedience  to  the  pro- 
visions  of  that  Act.  In  that  message  the  Executive  informed 
the  Legislature  that  he  was  making  arrangements  to  call  out 
a  portion  of  the  militia,  that  being  the  only  means  in  his 
power  to  carry  into  effect  the  Act  of  2d  of  April,  1803. 
Orders  were  accordingly  transmitted  to  the  Adjutant-General, 
inclosing  the  appointment  of  General  Michael  Bright,  and 
his  orders,  which  were  laid  before  the  Legislature,  March  2d, 
1809.  On  the  24th  day  of  March,  the  General  stationed  a 
guard  at  the  houses  of  the  executrices.  On  the  25th  day  of 
March,  the  Marshal  of  the  district  was  resisted  by  the  militia, 
and  prevented  from  entering  the  houses  of  the  executrices. 
That  officer  afterwards  issued  notices  calling  out  a  posse  comi- 
tatus,  to  assist  him  in  executing  this  attachment.  Previous  to 
the  day  on  which  the  posse  was  ordered  out,  to  wit,  on  the 
15th  of  April,  the  Marshal  eluded  the  vigilance  of  the  guard 
and  arrested  one  of  the  executrices.  A  habeas  corpus  before 
the  Chief-Justice  was  taken  out  in  her  name  by  the  Attorney- 
General The  Chief-Justice  refusing  to  liberate  the 


SIMON  SNYDER.  313 

body  of  the  executrix,  and  ordering  her  to  remain  in  cus- 
tody of  the  Marshal,  the  Executive  directed  the  guard  to  be 
withdrawn  and  the  money  to  be  paid." 

The  period  during  which  Snyder  was  Governor  was  an 
important  and  exciting  one  in  the  national  life.  Napoleon 
was  on  the  throne  of  France.  On  the  thrones  of  Spain,  Hol- 
land, and  Italy  he  had,  by  his  sword,  seated  his  three  brothers. 
All  Europe,  amazed  at  his  giant  strides,  took  up  arms  against 
him.  The  United  States,  preserving  a  perfectly  neutral  atti- 
tude, was  allowed  by  her  commercial  marine  to  visit  freely 
the  ports  of  the  belligerents,  and  was  greatly  prospered.  In 
violation  of  the  neutral  rights  of  the  United  States,  Great 
Britain,  in  1806,  issued  an  order  in  council  declaring  the 
whole  coast  of  the  continent  from  the  Elbe  to  Brest  in  a 
state  of  blockade.  Napoleon  retaliated  by  issuing  his  decree 
at  Berlin  declaring  the  entire  coast  of  the  British  Islands  also 
in  blockade.  As  a  consequence,  American  vessels  were  seized 
by  both  French  and  English  cruisers,  and  her  commerce, 
though  preserving  a  strict  neutrality,  was  suddenly  swept 
from  the  ocean.  The  baneful  effect  of  the  "orders"  and 
"  decrees  "  was  aggravated  by  the  haughty  assumption  of  the 
right,  by  Great  Britain,  to  search  unceremoniously  American 
vessels  for  suspected  deserters  from  the  British  navy,  under 
cover  of  which  the  grossest  outrages  were  committed,  Amer- 
ican seamen  being  dragged  from  the  decks  of  their  vessels 
and  impressed  into  the  royal  service.  In  retaliation,  Presi- 
dent Jefferson,  in  July,  1807,  issued  a  proclamation  ordering 
all  British  armed  vessels  to  leave  the  waters  of  the  United 
States,  and  forbidding  any  to  enter  until  satisfaction  for  the 
past,  and  security  for  the  future,  should  be  assured;  and  upon 
the  meeting  of  Congress  in  December,  an  embargo  was  laid, 
detaining  all  vessels,  American  and  foreign,  then  in  the  ports 
of  the  United  States,  and  ordering  all  American  vessels  home 
that  were  abroad,  that  the  seamen  might  be  trained  for  hos- 
tilities. Negotiations  were  conducted  with  varying  success, 
but  without  any  pacifying  results.  In  the  meantime  the 
causes  of  irritation  increased,  until  finally  the  state  of  feeling 


314     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

became  so  much  embittered,  that  in  1811  President  Madison, 
by  authority  of  Congress,  declared  war  against  Great  Britain. 
The  war,  which  lasted  for  a  period  of  nearly  four  years,  is 
known  as  the  WAR  OF  1812,  and  resulted  in  the  establishment 
of  a  really  national  character  to  the  United  States.  Dr. 
Franklin  once  heard  a  person  in  conversation  speak  of  the 
Revolution  as  the  War  of  Independence  and  reproved  him, 
saying :  "  Sir,  you  mean  the  Revolution  ;  the  war  of  indepen- 
dence is  yet  to  come.  It  was  a  war  for  independence,  but  not 
of  independence." 

One  of  the  first  manoeuvres  of  the  British  in  the  contest 
was  to  incite  the  Indians  to  hostilities,  and  succeeded  but  too 
well.  On  the  night  of  the  6th  of  November,  a  bloody  battle 
was  fought  near  the  confluence  of  the  Tippecanoe  and 
Wabash  rivers,  with  a  powerful  body  of  the  savages  led  by 
Tecumseh,  a  chief  who  rivalled  Pontiac  in  bravery,  in  which 
General  Harrison  gained  a  complete  victory,  though  at  great 
sacrifice.  The  operations  along  the  Canada  frontier  against 
the  British  army  were  less  fortunate.  On  the  16th  of  Au- 
gust, 1812,  General  Hull,  Governor  of  Michigan,  after  having 
crossed  into  Canada  and  attempted  to  reduce  the  opposing 
force,  and  been  obliged  to  return,  was  himself  compelled  to 
surrender  the  post  at  Detroit,  where  he  had  taken  shelter, 
whereby  fort,  stores,  garrison,  and  territory  passed  into  the 
enemy's  hands.  Two  months  later,  General  Van  Rensselaer 
was  defeated  with  considerable  loss  at  Queenstown  Heights, 
though  the  British  commander-in-chief,  Brock,  was  killed  in 
the  action.  At  Frenchtown,  on  the  River  Raisin,  twenty-five 
miles  south  of  Detroit,  at  dawn  on  the  morning  of  the  22d 
of  January,  1813,  General  Winchester,  after  a  brave  resistance, 
was  forced  to  surrender  to  the  British  and  Indians,  and 
though  the  sick  and  wounded  were  by  the  terms  of  the  sur- 
render solemnly  guaranteed  safety,  they  were  inhumanly 
murdered.  The  brave  and  successful  defence  of  Fort  Ste- 
phenson  \yy  the  youthful  Major  Croghan,  with  only  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  soldiers,  when  attacked  by  five  hundred  regu- 
lais  and  eight  hundred  Indians,  formed  some  relief  to  the 


SIMON  SNYDER.  315 

otherwise  dark  picture.  The  enemy  was  repulsed  with  a  loss 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  killed  and  wounded,  while  the  de- 
fenders lost  but  one  killed  and  seven  wounded.  Croghan 
was  but  twenty-two  years  old.  The  tide  of  victory  now  be- 
gan to  turn  in  favor  of  the  Americans.  On  the  5th  of  Octo- 
ber, General  Harrison  came  up  with  the  British  and  Indians 
at  the  Moravian  village  on  the  Thames,  and  defeated  them 
with  great  slaughter,  the  famous  Tecumseh  being  among  the 
killed.  By  this  victory  all  that  Hull  had  lost  was  regained, 
the  power  of  the  Indians  was  broken,  and  the  English  were 
driven  from  Michigan. 

Meanwhile,  upon  the  ocean  and  upon  the  lakes  engage- 
ments occurred  which  rank  with  the  best  exhibitions  of  naval 
valor  that  the  world  has  seen  —  Commodores  Decatur,  Hull, 
Jones,  Perry,  Lawrence,  Porter,  and  McDonough  combat- 
ing the  enemy  with  a  valor  which  has  made  that  flag  under 
which  they  fought  respected  on  every  water,  even  to  the 
remotest  seas. 

The  campaign  of  1814  was  conducted  by  the  enemy  with 
vigor.  Early  in  that  year  the  power  of  Napoleon  was 
broken,  and  fourteen  thousand  of  Wellington's  veterans  were 
sent  to  Canada.  The  battles  of  Oswego,  Chippewa,  Luudy's 
Lane,  Fort  Erie,  and  Plattsburg,  which  followed,  were  never- 
theless favorable  to  the  American  arms  —  Generals  Scott, 
Ripley,  and  Brown  winning  substantial  victories,  and  success- 
fully turning  back  the  enemy  from  his  march  of  invasion. 
In  August,  Ross,  one  of  the  most  trusted  of  "Wellington's 
generals,  with  six  thousand  men,  in  a  flotilla  of  sixty  vessels, 
arrived  in  the  Chesapeake,  for  the  conquest  of  the  capital. 
He  found  little  to  oppose  him.  A  feeble  fleet  under  Commo- 
dore Barney  was  abandoned  and  burned.  A  small  force  of 
militia  under  General  Winder  met  Ross  at  Bladensburg  and 
made  a  sharp  resistance ;  but  the  affair  was  soon  decided  in 
Yavor  of  the  latter.  On  the  same  day,  August  24th,  Ross 
captured  Washington,  burned  the  Capitol,  President's  house, 
and  other  public  and  private  buildings,  and  hastily  withdrew 
to  the  fleet.  A  few  days  later  he  appeared  before  Baltimore. 


316      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

and,  debarking,  advanced  to  the  attack.  He  was  met  by  a 
division  of  the  force  brought  together  for  the  defence,  com- 
manded by  General  Smith,  a  revolutionary  veteran,  arid  in  a 
brief  skirmish  which  ensued,  Ross  was  killed.  A  fierce  en- 
gagement followed,  in  which  the  enemy  lost  severely.  In  the 
meantime  the  fleet  approached,  and  opened  fire  upon  Fort 
McIIenry,  which  was  continued  almost  incessantly  for  a  day 
and  a  night,  throwing  not  less  than  fifteen  hundred  bomb- 
shells. The  inhabitants  were  in  great  consternation ;  but 
before  light  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  September,  despair- 
ing of  success,  the  enemy  secretly  embarked  and  moved 
away. 

The  song  of  the  Star-Spangled  Banner  was  inspired  by  the 
terrors  of  this  bombardment.  A  gentleman  had  left  Balti- 
more in  a  flag-of-truce  boat  to  secure  the  release  of  a  friend, 
who  had  been  captured,  and  was  a  prisoner  on  board  the 
fleet.  He  was  not  permitted  to  return,  lest  he  should  disclose 
the  intention  to  bombard  the  city.  The  flag-boat  was  kept 
under  the  guns  of  a  frigate,  and  he  was  compelled  to  witness 
this  terrific  fire,  which  the  British  admiral  boasted  would 
soon  reduce  the  city.  Through  the  whole  day  he  watched 
the  flag  at  the  fort  with  indescribable  anxiety.  At  night  he 
followed  with  eager  eye  the  bursting  shells,  and  in  the  early 
dawn  of  the  morning,  to  his  great  joy,  he  distinguished  that 
banner  still  floating.  Under  these  circumstances  the  national 
song  was  written. 

Einalty,  General  Jackson,  who  had  been  engaged  in  pun- 
ishing the  Indians  in  the  south,  finding  that  the  enemy  in 
great  numbers  were  making  their  appearance  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  promptly  responded  to  a  call  from  New  Orleans  for 
help,  and  marching  thither  made  preparations  for  defence. 
In  hastily  constructed  breastworks  upon  the  river,  four  miles 
below  the  city,  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  January,  1815, 
Jackson,  with  six  thousand  militia,  met  General  Packenham, 
with  twelve  thousand  men,  many  of  them  Wellington's 
veterans,  and  after  a  brief  but  sharp  engagement,  gained  a 
complete  victory.  General  Packenham  fell,  and  his  army 


SIMON  SNYDER.  317 

withdrew,  leaving  seven  hundred  dead,  and  more  than  a  thou- 
sand wounded  upon  the  field.  The  Americans  lost  but  seven 
killed  and  six  wounded.  Two  weeks  before  this,  a  treaty  of 
peace  had  been  concluded  between  the  two  nations  at  Ghent, 
Belgium  ;  but  the  news  of  it  had  not  reached  America  when 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans  was  fought. 

In  all  this  contest  the  Government  of  Pennsylvania  was 
administered  faithfully  in  the  interest  of  the  national  author- 
ity. Governor  Sriyder  believed  the  war  to  be  justly  under- 
taken, and  his  supporters  were  emphatically  of  the  war  party. 
All  his  energies  were  devoted  to  bringing  out  the  forces  of 
the  State  required  for  prosecuting  the  war  with  vigor.  Vol- 
unteers received  but  eight  dollars  a  month  from  the  General 
Government.  Every  inducement  in  addition  to  this,  which 
he  could  consistently  use,  to  facilitate  volunteering  and  to  aid 
in  equipment  and  support  of  the  troops,  he  was  vigilant  and 
studious  in  extending.  It  is  related  that  Mrs.  Snyder  even 
cut  up  her  crimson  cloak  to  make  trimmings  for  the  soldiers' 
uniforms.  The  closing  paragraph  of  his  first  inaugural  ad- 
dress to  the  Legislature  proves  the  warmth  of  feeling  with 
which  he  regarded  the  support  of  the  nation  in  the  hour  of 
its  tribulation.  "  In  a  national  crisis  like  the  present,"  he 
says,  "  where  all  that  is  dear  and  precious  to  the  United  States 
is  threatened  by  the  violence  and  aggressions  of  foreign 
.  powers,  it  is  peculiarly  and  eminently  the  duty  of  all  the 
constituted  authorities  to  act  in  support  of  the  just  and  hon- 
orable measures  adopted  by  the  Federal  Government,  as  if 
animated  by  one  heart,  one  spirit,  and  one  determination. 
The  happy  influence  of  such  an  accordance  of  opinion  and 
action  is  not  bounded  by  our  country,  but  beneficially  ex- 
tends itself  wherever  American  politics  can  interest,  or 
American  interests  be  affected." 

To  the  time  of  the  accession  of  Governor  Snyder,  the  Ex- 
ecutives had  been  in  the  habit  of  delivering  their  annual 
messages  to  the  Legislature  in  person.  He  abolished  that 
custom  and  inaugurated  that  of  communicating  them  in 
writing,  which  ha*  since  continued  to  prevail.  The  reason 


318     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OP  1790. 

for  this  change  lie  thus  states  in  the  opening  of  his  first  mes- 
sage :  "  I  have  been  induced  to  depart  from  this  custom 
from  a  conviction  that  communications  by  message  are  more 
in  accordance  with  our  republican  principles  and  institutions, 
simplicity  of  manners,  sound  economy,  and  equally  respect- 
ful to  the  members  composing  the  Legislature." 

The  interests  of  the  nation  were  equally  dear  to  the  heart 
of  Governor  Snyder  with  those  of  the  Commonwealth  over 
which  he  presided,  and  in  his  annual  messages  he  alluded  to 
them  with  as  much  devotion  as  though  they  were  the  objects 
of  his  immediate  care.  In  his  message  of  the  5th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1811,  he  thus  utters  his  convictions  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery,  the  first  of  the  governors  to  enter  his  protest  against 
it:  "Elevated  as  is  her  character  for  humanity,  there  is  yet 
permitted  to  remain  one  other  stain  on  the  otherwise  fair 
and  benign  features  of  her  polity.  The  galling  yoke  of 
slavery  is  still  felt  by  some  of  our  fellow-creatures,  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  this  commonwealth,  and  its  pressure  is  made  the 
more  severe,  by  witnessing  the  happiness  and  freedom  of 
surrounding  multitudes.  A  recent  act  of  cruelty  which 
came  under  my  notice,  and  which  awakened  feelings  of  a 
painful  and  distressing  nature,  will,  I  trust,  excuse  the  intro- 
duction to  your  notice  of  a  subject  so  interesting  to  the 
whole  human  family,  and  embracing  facts  and  practices  pal- 
pably inconsistent  with  the  terms  and  spirit  of  that  funda- 
mental and  immutable  law  of  reason,  '  That  all  men  are  born 
free  and  equal.' "  The  allusion  above  to  the  act  of  cruelty 
shows  that  the  Governor's  heart  was  open  to  generous  emo- 
tions, and  that  it  was  touched  with  pity  by  every  pang, 
the  result  of  wrong  and  injustice,  inflicted  upon  even  the 
lowliest  of  the  human  species. 

The  following  incident,  given  by  John  Binns,  a  friend  oi 
the  Governor,  who  was  present  when  the  facts  related  trans- 
pired, also  illustrates  the  goodness  of  the  Governor's  heart, 
and  his  readiness  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  the  weak  when 
unjustly  assailed.  "  Soon  after  the  inauguration  of  Governor 
Snyder,"  says  Mr.  Binns,  "  in  1808,  I  was  sitting  with  him 


SIMON  SNYDER.  4  319 

in  a  room  at  his  lodgings  at  Bailsman's  tavern  in  Lancaster. 
The  room  was  upon  the  second  floor,  and  it  was  evening.  A 
waiter  entered  and  said,  '  There  are  some  gentlemen  below 
who  desire  to  speak  with  the  Governor.'  '  Tell  them  to  walk 
up,'  said  the  Governor.  In  a  few  minutes  seven  well-dressed 
persons  entered.  The  foremost  of  them  said,  '  We  wish  to 
speak  with  the  Governor  on  a  matter  of  business.'  The  Gov- 
ernor answered,  '  I  have  no  objection  that  my  friend  Mr. 
Binns  should  hear  anything  you  may  wish  to  say  to  me,  or 
anything  I  may  have  to  say  in  answer.'  The  speaker  for  the 
party  then  said,  *  "We  are  all  applicants  for  the  public  offices 
in  Chester  County.  We  have  waited  upon  your  Excellency 
to  say  that  we  shall  be  quite  satisfied,  and  shall  zealously  sup- 
port your  administration,  whoever  you  may  appoint,  with 
the  exception  of  Charles  Kenny.  He  is  an  Irishman.  We 
know  that  his  appointment  would  be  very  unpopular.'  The 
Governor  bowed  and  made  answer,  '  I  shall  consider,  gentle- 
men, what  you  have  said.'  The  gentlemen  applicants  bowed 
respectfully  and  retired.  The  Governor  turned  promptly 
towards  me,  and  said,  *  That 's  a  selfish  combination  against 
an  absent  individual.  I  shall  appoint  Kenny.'  He  did  ap- 
point him  Clerk  of  the  Orphans'  Court  of  Chester  County, 
and  he  was  as  good  an  officer  and  as  popular  an  appointment 
as  any  that  he  made." 

Governor  Snj-der  was  not  the  man  to  be  intimidated  by 
threats,  or  driven  from  any  policy  which  he  thought  to  be  right, 
in  the  hope  of  thereby  gaining  a  temporary  popularity.  Few 
men  have  been  bolder,  or  more  independent  in  their  public 
acts,  or  have  been  less  swayed  by  considerations  of  selfish  ex- 
pediency than  he.  In  the  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1813- 
1814,  a  bill  was  passed  by  a  large  majority  chartering  forty 
banks.  It  was  upon  the  eve  of  making  the  nomination  for 
governor  for  the  succeeding  1erm.  At  that  time  the  nomina- 
tions were  made  by  the  members  of  the  Legislature.  After 
assembling  in  caucus,  it  was  remarked  that  the  Act  chartering 
the  banks  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor,  and  that  a 
nomination  should  not  be  made  until  it  was  seen  whether  he 


320     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

approved  the  bill.  But  no  considerations  like  this  could 
sway  Governor  Snyder,  and  promptly  within  three  days  from 
the  time  of  its  passage,  he  returned  the  bill  with  a  statement 
of  his  objections.  It  did  not  pass  at  that  session.  The  Gov- 
ernor's independence  was  the  theme  of  universal  encomium ; 
and  he  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  over  twenty  thousand 
votes. 

During  the  administration  of  Governor  Snyder  a  notorious 
woman,  Ann  Smith,  alias  Carson,  formed  a  bold  scheme  for 
abducting  the  Governor's  youngest  son,  then  a  lad  at  school, 
and  for  holding  him  until  the  pardon  of  her  paramour, 
who  was  under  sentence  of  death,  should  be  secured.  For 
this  purpose  she  started  from  Philadelphia  with  two  hired 
ruffians,  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  was  making  her  way  to 
Selinsgrove,  on  the  Susquehanna,  where  the  Governor's 
family  resided.  The  Governor  was  secretly  informed  of 
their  coming,  and  was  prepared  to  receive  them.  They  were 
allowed  to  pass  Harrisburg  undisturbed;  but  at  Hunter's 
Falls,  ten  miles  above,  where  they  stopped  for  the  night,  and 
where  they  were  drawn  into  conversation  disclosing  their 
purposes  and  exhibiting  their  arms,  they  were  all  appre- 
hended, and  after  a  trial  and  conviction  were  given  a  home 
in  the  penitentiary. 

Upon  retiring  from  the  office  of  Governor,  in  1817,  he 
returned  to  his  residence  near  Selinsgrove,  and  at  the  next 
general  election  was  chosen  to  the  State  Senate,  but  only 
served  during  one  session.  He  died  of  typhoid  fever,  on  the 
9th  of  November,  1819.  The  last  half  year  of  his  life  was 
rendered  unhappy  by  domestic  afflictions,  and  the  weight  of 
grievous  cares.  His  long  residence  at  the  seat  of  government 
had  prevented  him  from  giving  that  attention  to  the  manage- 
ment of  his  extensive  estates  which  they  required,  and  he  in 
consequence  found  himself  much  embarrassed.  The  death 
of  his  son  Frederick,  which  occurred  at  this  time  of  business 
anxiety,  broke  his  spirit,  and  prepared  his  system  for  the  dis- 
ease of  which  he  died. 

He  was  three  times  married  :  in  1790,  to  Elizabeth  Michael, 


SIMON  SNYDER.  321 

who  died  on  the  10th  of  November,  1794,  leaving  two  cnildren; 
on  the  l'2th  of  Jfcne,  1796,  to  Catharine  Antes,  who  died  on 
the  15th  of  March,  1810,  leaving  five  children  ;  and  on  the 
16th  of  October,  1814,  to  Mary  Slough  Scott,  a  widow,  who 
died  October  8,  1823. 

The  feelings  which  actuated  Governor  Snyder  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  of  a  long  public  service  are  forcibly 
expressed  in  the  closing  paragraphs  of  his  last  annual 
message  to  the  Legislature :  "  Having  discharged  as  well  the 
Constitutional  injunction  as  those  duties  assigned  by  law, 
and  recommended  what  in  my  judgment  would  promote  the 
public  weal,  it  remains  for  me  to  add,  that  it  has  ever  given 
me  the  purest  pleasure  to  co-operate  with  the  General  As- 
sembly in  such  measures  as  were  calculated  to  perpetuate  the 
happiness  of  our  constituents ;  that  in  the  discharge  of  exec- 
utive functions  I  was  ever  solicitous  to  collect  my  duty  from 
a  just  appreciation  of  every  circumstance  by  which  it  might 
be  affected.  I  heard  with  attention,  and  endeavored  to  de- 
cide with  integrity.  I  had  a  wish,  it  is  true,  to  regard  the 
public  voice,  and  I  confess  myself  to  have  been  ambitious  to 
conciliate  and  enjoy  the  public  confidence.  But  I  could 
never  abandon  the  superior  claims  of  self-approbation  and 
conscious  rectitude.  Satisfied  on  these  points,  (and  ever 
aware  that  in  the  performance  of  executive  duties  by  a 
merely  practical  man  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  avoid 
error,)  I  have  ever  acted  without  in  the  least  regarding  what 
the  world  might  say  about  it;  and  those  who  know  me  best 
can  bear  witness  that  I  have  borne  with  patience  the  con- 
sequences which,  to  me,  have  casually  resulted  from  them. 
For  the  errors  I  may  have  committed,  I  am  consoled  with 
the  reflection  that  perhaps  no  important  good  was  ever  alto- 
gether free  from  alloy,  and  that  my  fellow-citizens  will,  I 
trust,  charitably  find  a  palliation  in  the  motive  which  at  any 
time  may  have  misled  me.  The  confidence  and  support 
which  I  have  experienced  from  my  fellow-citizens  for  the 
greater  portion  of  an  active  life,  have  impressed  my  mind 
with  deep  and  lasting  gratitude.  A  consciousness  of  having 
21 


322      GOVEENOBS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

with  diligence  and  fidelity  endeavored  to  discharge  the  duties 
which  a  partial  public  has  on  various  occasions  assigned  me, 
and  of  the  liberality  which  has  been  evinced  towards  me  by 
a  succession  of  legislatures  during  an  arduous  administra- 
tion, heightens  the  satisfaction  I  have  in  surrendering  it  to 
an  able  successor.  And  whilst  I  bid  you,  and  my  fellow- 
citizens  generally,  an  affectionate  farewell,  I  implore  for  my 
country  the  blessings  of  an  all-wise  superintending  Provi- 
dence." 


WILLIAM  FINDLAY, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1790, 

December  16,  1817,  to  December  19,  1820. 

WILLIAM  FIKDLAY,  the  fourth  Governor  of  Pennsyl- 
vania under  the  Constitution  of  1790.  was  born  at  Mer- 
cersburg,  Franklin  County,  on  the  20th  of  June,  1768.  The 
progenitor  beyond  whom  he  never  traced  his  lineage  was 
Adjutant  Brown,  as  he  was  called,  who  took  part  in  the  de- 
fence of  Deny,  Ireland,  during  its  famous  siege  in  1566,  and 
afterwards  emigrated  to  this  country  with  his  daughter  Eliza- 
beth. The  daughter  married  Samuel  Findlay,  of  Philadel- 
phia. A  son  by  this  marriage,  Samuel,  settled,  some  years 
before  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  at  Mercers- 
burg,  a  place  which  was  then  of  more  trade  and  importance 
relatively  than  now.  It  was  an  entrepot,  where  goods  to  be 
sent  west  of  the  mountains  were  brought  in  wagons  and 
transferred  to  pack-horses.  It  is  situated  at  the  base  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  in  that  great  valley  —  the  Shenandoah  in  Virginia 
and  Cumberland  in  Pennsylvania — which  stretches  from  the 
borders  of  Tennessee  to  the  Hudson.  In  the  year  1765,  he 
was  married  to  Jane  Smith,  a  daughter  of  William  Smith. 
She  died  in  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  her  age,  the  mother  of  eight 
boys,  six  of  whom  survived  her.  These  lived  to  be  men,  and 
all  of  them  attained  respectable,  and  some  of  them  distin- 
guished positions  in  the  communities  where  they  lived.  Had 
that  young  mother  been  spared  to  look  on  them  in  their  man- 
hood, she  might  have  regarded  them  with  the  complacency 
of  Cornelia  herself.  Her  fine  understanding,  her  piety,  her 
maternal  tenderness  and  affection,  were  themes  on  which 

823 


V 

324      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

those  of  her  children  who  were  old  enough  when  she  died  to 
know  and  appreciate  her  virtues,  fondly  loved  to  dwell. 

William,  the  suhject  of  this  sketch,  was  the  second  of  this 
family  of  sons.     The  Scotch-Irish,  the  name  hy  which  emi- 
grants from  the  north  of  Ireland  were  known,  at  an  early 
day  settled  in  great  numbers  in  the  Cumberland  Valley,  an  1 
at  Mercersburg  they  formed  almost  the  exclusive  population. 
Like  the  Scotch,  from  whom  they  were  descended,  they  ap- 
preciated the  importance  of  a  good  education.     A  knowledge 
of  the  common  English  branches  they  deemed  indispensable  f 
for  all  their  children ;  while  one  son  in  a  family,  at  least,  if 
it  could  be  accomplished  by  any  reasonable  sacrifice,  received 
a  classical  education.     William,  in  his  boyhood,  displayed 
that  activity  of  mind  and  thirst  for  knowledge  which  were 
the  characteristics  of  his  manhood.     His  leisure  hours  were 
devoted  to  reading  such  books  as  were  accessible.     They 
were  few,  but  they  contained  solid  and  useful  information, 
very  different  from  many  of  those  which  a  prolific  and  un- 
scrupulous press  supplies  the  youth  of  the  present  day.     They 
were  read  with  care,  and  their  contents  made  the  subject  of 
reflection.     It  was  the  intention  of  his  parents  to  have  given 
him   a   collegiate   education,  in  preparation  for  one  of  the 
learned  professions,  which,  had  he  been  allowed  his  choice, 
would  have  been  that  of  the  law.     A  fire,  which  consumed 
his  father's  store  and  dwelling,  caused  so  severe  a  pecuniary 
loss  that  this  cherished  purpose  had  to  be  abandoned.     His 
instruction  was  therefore  only  such  as  could  be  obtained  in 
the  schools  of  the  neighborhood.     The  meagre  advantages 
afforded  him  were  studiously  improved,  and  the  natural  ac- 
tivity of  his  mind  and  his  ambition  to  excel  enabled  him  to 
make  substantial  acquirements.     He  wrote  with  correctness 
and  perspicuity,  had  a  general  knowledge  of  American  and 
English  history  and  literature,  and  although  not  a  technical 
lawyer,  he  acquired  that"  competent  knowledge  of  the  laws" 
of  his  country  which  Blackstoue  pronounces  to  be  "  the  pro- 
per accomplishment  of  every  gentleman." 

0-   the  7th  of  December,  1791,  he  was  married  to  Nancy 


WILLIAM  FINDLAT.  325 

Irwin,  daughter  of  Archibald  Irwin  of  Franklin  County,  and 
commenced  life  as  a  farmer  on  a  portion  of  his  father's  estate, 
which,  at  the  death  of  his  father,  in  1799,  he  inherited. 

He  was  a  political  disciple  and  a  great  admirer  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  and  at  an  early  age  took  an  active  part  in  politics. 
The  first  office  which  he  ever  held  was  a  military  one,  that 
of  Brigade  Inspector  of  Militia,  requiring  more  of  business 
capacity  than  knowledge  of  tactics.  The  Brigade  Inspector 
ranked  as  Major,  and  to  be  Major  of  Militia  in  those  days 
was  considered  no.  small  honor.  To  the  veterans  of  the 
•Revolutionary  War  it  was  given  to  become  Generals  and 
Colonels.  Musters  and  reviews  of  brigades  and  divisions 
were  held  annually,  when  the  whole  country-side  turned  out 
to  view  and  enjoy  the  spectacle.  Military  promotion  led  to 
political  preferment.  The  election  of  a  Colonel  or  Major  was 
as  fiercely  contested  as  that  of  a  Governor,  and  the  candidates 
were  often  if  not  generally  of  opposite  parties. 

In  the  autumn  of  1797,  that  immediately  succeeding  the 
inauguration  of  John  Adams  as  President  of  the  United 
States,  at  a  time  when  the  "only  newspaper  published  in 
Franklin  County  was  the  organ  of  the  Federalists,  with  its 
columns  strictly  closed  against  the  Republicans,  Mr.  Findlay 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
State  Legislature,  which  then  sat  in  Philadelphia.  He  was 
then  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age,  and  found  himself,  if 
not  the  youngest,  among  the  most  youthful  in  a  body  where  it 
was  the  custom  to  send  men  more  advanced  in  years  than  at 
present. 

He  was  again  elected  to  the  House  in  1803.  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  succeeded  Mr.  Adams  in  the  Presidency,  and  the  Re- 
publicans were  in  the  ascendant  in  both  National  and  State 
Governments.  The  capital  had,  by  the  Act  of  April  3d, 
1799,  been  temporarily  established  at  Lancaster.  Mr.  Find- 
lay  at  this  session  proposed  that  it  should  be  permanently 
established  at  Harrisburg.  The  proposition  then  failed ;  but 
it  was  eventually  carried,  and  in  1812  the  removal  was 
effected.  He  proved  himself  a  leading  member,  and  one  of 


326      GOVERN  OK  3  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

the  most  useful  in  the  House,  being  placed  in  the  most 
responsible  positions.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Committee 
of  Ways  and  Means ;  of  a  committee  to  define  by  bill  con- 
tempt of  court ;  chairman  of  a  committee  to  draft  an  address 
to  the  Governor  asking  the  removal  of  an  associate  judge; 
member  of  a  committee  to  revise  the  laws  relating  to  insol- 
vent debtors  ;  and  of  a  committee  to  inquire  what  alterations 
in  the  penal  laws  were  necessary  to  prevent  kidnapping. 

At  the  session  of  1802-3  the  petition  of  Thomas  Passmore 
had  been  presented  to  the  House  praying  for  the  impeach- 
ment of  Edward  Shippen,  Jasper  Yates,  and  Thomas  Smith, 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  who  had  committed  Passmore 
for  contempt  of  court.  It  was  not  acted  upon  at  that  session ; 
but  was  taken  up  as  an  item  of  unfinished  business  at  the 
session  of  the  following  year,  and  was  referred  to.  the  com- 
mittee of  grievances,  who,  on  the  13th  of  March,  reported 
the  following  resolution :  "  That  a  committee  be  appointed 
to  draft  articles  of  impeachment  against  the  said  Edward 
Shippen,  Esq.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Jasper  Yates  and  Thomas  Smith,  Esqs.,  judges 
of  the  said  court,  for  a  high  misdemeanor  in  their  official 
capacity,  by  arbitrarily  and  unconstitutionally  fining  and  im- 
prisoning Thomas  Passmore,"  which  was  agreed  to  by  a  large 
majority.  Articles  of  impeachment  were  accordingly  adopted, 
and  on  the  23d  a  committee  was  appointed  to  exhibit  them  to 
the  Senate,  and  to  manage  the  trial  on  behalf  of  the  House. 
At  the  next  session  the  trial  was  proceeded  with,  but  resulted 
in  the  acquittal  of  the  accused.  Mr.  Findlay  voted  against 
the  proposition  ordering  the  preferment  of  articles  of  im- 
peachment, from  a  conviction,  doubtless,  that  the  judges  had 
not  exceeded  their  common  law  powers,  and  that  they  had 
acted  conscientiously  and  with  no  intention  to  oppress.  Judge 
Breckenridge,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  court,  but  who  hap- 
pened to  be  absent  from  the  bench  when  his  brethren  had 
committed  Passmore,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  House,  after 
Passmore's  petition  had  been  presented,  requesting  to  be  im- 
peached, not  for  any  act  of  his  own,  but  for  his  approbation 


WILLIAM  FINDLAY.  327 

of  the  official  conduct  in  the  case.  The  letter  was  considered 
disrespectful  to  the  House,  and  was  referred  to  a  committee, 
of  which  Mr.  Findlay  was  chairman,  with  power  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers.  The  committee  decided  against  indulg- 
ing the  judge  in  his  magnanimous  desire  to  share  the  fate  of 
the  accused.  But  although  they  declined  to  accuse  him  of  a 
3rime  which  he  had  not  committed,  they  determined  so  far 
to  gratify  him,  as  to  go  into  a  general  investigation  of  his 
official  conduct,  and  recommended  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  Governor  asking  for 
his  removal  from  office.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  the 
measure  was  carried  through  both  Houses  by  the  requisite 
constitutional  majority;  but  it  failed  to  unseat  the  meddle- 
some Judge,  Governor  McKean,  who  was  then  in  the  chair 
of  State,  deciding  that  the  action  of  the  Legislature  was  not 
mandatory,  but  simply  empowered  him  to  act  or  not  at  his 
discretion,  and  he  deemed  the  offence  proven  insufficient  to 
warrant  removal. 

When  the  act  to  revise  the  judiciary  system  was  before  the 
House,  Mr.  Findlay  offered  additional  sections,  providing 
that  a  plaintiff  might  file  a  statement  of  his  cause  of  action 
instead  of -a  declaration;  for  reference  of  matters  in  dispute 
to  arbitration ;  that  proceedings  should  not  be  set  aside  for 
informality;  that  pleadings  might  be  amended,  and  amicable 
actions  and  judgments  entered  without  the  agency  of  an 
attorney. 

These  provisions  were  not  then  adopted,  but  they  after- 
wards became  and  still  are  a  part  of  the  statute  law.  The 
object  aimed  at  by  their  mover  was  doubtless  to  enable  parties 
to  conduct  their  own  cases  in  court  without  professional  assist- 
ance. This  the  enactments  have  failed  to  accomplish ;  but 
they  have  been  of  great  advantage  to  attorneys  themselves, 
enabling  them  to  cure  their  own  errors  and  omissions,  to 
which  they  as  well  as  the  unlearned  are  liable. 

On  the  13th  of  January,  1807,  Mr.  Findlay  was  elected 
State  Treasurer,  whereupon  he  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
House.  From  that  date  until  the  2d  of  December,  1817, 


328      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITLTION  OF  1790. 

when  he  resigned  to  assume  the  duties  of  chief  magistrate,  a 
period  of  nearly  eleven  years,  he  was  annually  re-elected  by 
the  Legislature  to  that  office,  in  several  instances  unanimously, 
and  always  by  a  strong  majority,  not  uncommonly  being 
supported  by  members  politically  opposed  to  him.  During 
nearly  four  years  of  this  time  the  United  States  were  at  war 
with  England,  and  the  resources  of  the  country  were  severely 
taxed.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Legislature  had  chartered  the 
Forty  Banks  over  the  veto  of  Governor  Snyder,  about  which 
a  violent  contest  had  occurred,  and  the  State  was  flooded 
with  depreciated  paper  currency.  Notwithstanding  the  con- 
stant vigilance  and  scrutiny  of  the  careful  and  reliable  chief 
clerk  of  the  Treasury,  Alexander  Wilson,  about  seven  hun- 
dred dollars  of  uricurrent  money  had  been  taken  at  its 
counter.  Determined  that  the  State  should  not  suffer  loss 
by  this  misfortune,  Mr.  Findlay  paid  the  amount  out  of  his 
private  funds.  This  action  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
Legislature,  a  bill  was  promptly  passed  for  refunding  to  him 
the  money,  thus  consummating  a  measure  of  simple  justice, 
and  bearing  testimony  to  the  integrity  and  worth  of  the 
officer. 

In  1817,  Mr.  Findlay  was  nominated  by  the  Republicans 
as  their  candidate  for  Governor.  General  Joseph  Hiester  was 
selected  by  a  disaffected  branch  of  the  Republican  party, 
styled  Old  School  Men,  to  oppose  him,  who  was  supported 
also  by  the  Federalists.  The  result  was  a  triumph  for  Find- 
lay,  who  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  over  seven  thousand 
votes.  During  the  canvass  party  spirit  ran  high,  and  it  did 
not  subside  when  the  result  of  the  contest  was  known.  The 
Governor  elect  had  no  sooner  resigned  the  office  of  State 
Treasurer,  than  a  party  in  the  Legislature,  instigated  by  his 
political  opponents,  moved  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
inquire  into  his  conduct  in  the  office  which  he  had  just  va- 
cated. The  confidence  of  friends  and  foes  alike  in  his  capac- 
ity during  the  long  period  of  eleven  years,  and  the  regular 
scrutiny  and  approval  of  his  accounts  by  the  auditing  depart- 
ment of  the  Government  and  of  the  Legislature  itself,  were 


WILLIAM  FINDLAT.  329 

regarded  as  of  little  weight  compared  with  the  gratification 
of  party  rancor  and  personal  spite.  The  investigation  lasted 
nearly  the  entire  session.  The  Treasurer  offered  no  witnesses 
in  his  behalf,  nor  was  he  present  in  person  or  by  attorney  at 
the  sittings  of  the  committee.  A  report  was  finally  made  that 
"  the  conduct  of  the  State  Treasurer  in  his  official  capacity 
has  been  not  only  faithful,  but  meritorious  and  beneficial  to 
the  State,  and  entitles  him  to  the  thanks  and  gratitude  of  hia 
fellow-citizens." 

At  the  same  session  a  petition  was  presented  to  contest  his 
election  as  Governor;  but  this  was  abandoned,  when  it  was 
found  that  the  postponement  of  his  inauguration,  which  was 
doubtless  its  real  object,  had  failed.  Again  at  the  session  of 
1819-20  the  Governor's  official  conduct  was  the  subject  of 
inquiry ;  but,  like  that  of  his  management  of  the  Treasury, 
resulted  in  his  triumphant  vindication.  It  was  thus  that  party 
warfare  was  waged.  One  at  least  of  the  active  opponents  of 
Governor  Findlay,  then  a  young  man  and  rising  lawyer, 
who  afterwards  attained  eminence  at  the  Philadelphia  Bar, 
acknowledged  with  a  frankness  and  cordiality  which  did  him 
credit,  that  injustice  had  been  done  the  Governor  in  these 
proceedings. 

In  1820,  Governor  Findlay  again  received  the  unanimous 
nomination  of  the  Republicans  for  re-election,  and  Joseph 
Hiester  was  nominated  as  before  by  the  Republicans  of  the  Old 
School,  and  was  supported  by  the  Federalists  en  masse.  Under 
the  Constitution  of  1790,  the  patronage  of  the  Executive  was 
immense.  To  him  was  given  the  power  of  appointing,  with 
few  exceptions,  every  State  and  County  officer.  This  power, 
considered  so  dangerous  that,  by  the  Constitution  of  1838 
and  subsequent  amendments;  the  Executive  has  been  stripped 
of  it  almost  entirely,  was,  in  fact,  dangerous  only  to  the  Gov- 
ernor himself.  For  while  he  might  attach  one  person  to 
him  by  making  an  appointment,  the  score  or  two  who  were 
disappointed  became,  if  not  active  political  opponents,  at 
least  lukewarm  friends.  Many  trained  and  skilful  politicians 
had  been  alienated  from  the  support  of  Governor  Findlay  by 


330      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  UF  1790. 

their  inability  to  share  or  control  patronage.     The  result  was 
the  election  of  his  opponent. 

At  the  general  elections  of  1821,  the  Republicans  regained 
ascendancy  in  the  Legislature.  At  the  session  of  1821-22, 
while  Governor  Findlay  was  quietly  spending  the  winter 
with  a  friend  and  relative  in  Franklin  County,  he  received 
notice  that  he  had  been  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  for  the  full  term  of  six  years  from  the  preceding  4th 
of  March.  He  immediately  set  out  for  the  capital,  where  he 
took  his  seat  and  served  the  entire  term  with  distinguished 
ability.  While  he  was  in  the  Senate,  two  of  his  brothers, 
Colonel  John  Findlay,  of  Chambersburg,  and  General  James 
Findlay,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  were  members  of  the  National 
House  of  Representatives.  We  are  reminded  by  the  follow- 
ing paragraph  from  the  Harrisburg  Intelligencer,  of  1824,  that 
travel  to  and  from  the  capital  then,  even  from  contiguous 
States,  was  by  no  means  so  rapid  and  convenient  as  now  : 
"  Mr.  Findlay,  of  the  United  States  Senate,  also,  left  this 
place  for  Washington  yesterday,  by  way  of  Baltimore,  in  a 


After  the  expiration  of  his  senatorial  term  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  President  Jackson  Treasurer  of  the  United  States 
Mint  at  Philadelphia.  This  office  he  held  until  the  accession 
of  General  Harrison  to  the  Presidency,  when,  unwilling  at 
his  advanced  age  to  be  longer  burdened  with  its  cares  and 
responsibilities,  he  resigned.  The  remainder  of  his  life  was 
spent  in  retirement  with  the  family  of  his  son-in-law,  Gov- 
ernor Shunk,  at  whose  residence,  in  Harrisburg,  he  died  on 
the  12th  of  November,  1846,  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  his 
age.  • 

The  building  of  the  State  capitol  was  commenced  during 
his  administration.  He  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  named 
in  the  Act  which  authorized  its  erection,  and  the  corner-stone 
at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  building  was  laid  by  his  hand. 
During  his  entire  term  of  office  the  Legislature  sat  in  the  old 
Court-House  of  Dauphin  County.  There  was  no  Governor's 
mansion  provided  by  the  State,  nor  even  an  Executive  Cham- 


WILLIAM  FINDLAY.  331 

her.  In  one  of  the  most  convenient  houses  that  could  then 
be  rented  in  Harrisburg,  since  greatly  enlarged  and  improved 
by  its  present  owner,  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Robinson,  D.D.,  he  re- 
ceived all  visits,  whether  of  business  or  courtesy.  His  back 
parlor  was  his  office,  and  here,  too,  weekly,  during  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature,  he  entertained  the  members  and  dis- 
tinguished visitors  to  Harrisburg  at  dinner. 

The  only  slave  that  he  ever  owned  he  manumitted  in  1817, 
with  this  emphatic  declaration :  "  The  principles  of  slavery 
are  repugnant  to  those  of  justice,  and  are  totally  irreconcil- 
able with  that  rule  which  requires  us  to  do  unto  others  as  we 
would  wish  to  be  done  by."  Upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  and 
its  natural  concomitant,  kidnapping,  which  at  this  period  was 
becoming  vexatious,  Governor  Findlay,  in  his  message  of 
1819,  says :  "  The  punishment  of  kidnapping  is  not  propor- 
tioned to  the  offence,  and  requires  to  be  increased.  In  con- 
nection with  this  subject  I  have  to  observe,  that  it  is  usual  to 
take  colored  persons  in  numbers  chained  together  through  our 
State,  and  especially  through  the  south-western  parts  of  it,  with- 
out inquiry  being  made  into  the  cause,  or  object  of  the  proced- 
ure. This  practice  affords  inducements  to  the  commission  of 
crime,  and  facilities  in  escaping  from  detection."  And  again 
in  his  message  of  the  following  year,  he  says  :  "  I  cannot  for- 
bear to  urge  upon  your  attention  the  necessity  for  some  provi- 
sions for  the  punishment  of  the  crime  of  kidnapping,  more 
adequate  to  the  prevention  of  the  offence,  as  well  as  more  pro- 
portioned to  other  punishments  for  crimes  of  inferior  grade. 
It  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  our  laws  regard  the  stealing  of  a  horse 
a  more  heinous  offence  than  the  stealing  of  a  man" 

In  person,  Governor  Findlay  was  tall,  with  fair  com- 
plexion and  dark-brown  hair.  He  had  a  vigorous  constitu- 
tion and  a  cheerful  disposition.  He  was  affable  and  cour- 
teous in  his  address,  fond  of  conversation,  but  did  not 
monopolize  it.  He  understood  and  practiced  the  habits  of  a 
good  listener.  He  exhibited  great  tact  in  drawing  out  the 
reserved  and  taciturn,  and  enabling  them  to  figure  well  in 
conversation  ^y  giving  rein  to  their  hobbies.  He  possessed 


332      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

a  remarkably  tenacious  memory  of  names  and  faces.  After 
a  long  separation,  he  could  recognize  and  call  by  name  a  per- 
son with  whom  he  had  had  but  a  short  and  casual  interview. 
His  acquaintance  was  probably  more  extensive,  and  his  per- 
sonal friends  more  numerous,  than  those  of  almost  any  other 
public  man  of  his  day 

In  his  domestic  relations  he  was  most  exemplary,  an  affec- 
tionate husband  and  the  best  of  fathers.  He  was  pre-emi- 
nently an  unselfish  man.  He  was  charitable  in  the  largest 
sense.  Thinking  no  evil  himself,  his  unsuspecting  benevo- 
lence was  often  imposed  upon.  He  was  a  Christian  in  faith 
and  practice.  Baptized  and  brought  up  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  he  accepted  its  standards,  and  respected  and  hospitably 
entertained  its  ministers.  In  his  inaugural  address  as  Gov- 
ernor, in  enumerating  the  duties  which  should  be  required  of 
public  servants,  he  included  that  of  cherishing  "  by  their  ex- 
ample, the  purity  and  beauty  of  the  religion  of  the  Redeemer." 

On  the  27th  of  July,  1824,  he  sustained  a  great  domestic 
affliction  in  the  death  of  his  wife,  for  whose  excellent  sense 
and  judgment  he  had  a  profound  respect,  and  who  for  more 
than  thirty  years  had  been  the  object  of  his  constant  and 
confiding  affection.  She  died  at  Pittsburg,  where  he  was  re- 
siding during  the  recess  of  Congress.  She  was  an  humble, 
devoted  Christian,  and  in  her  last  hours  looked  unmoved 
upon  the  approach  of  death.  She  managed  her  husband's 
household  with  admirable  prudence  and  judgment,  relieved 
him  from  domestic  cares,  presided  at  his  table  and  dispensed 
his  hospitality  with  dignity  and  ease,  and  cheered  him  amid 
the  labors  and  responsibilities  of  official  life  with  her  sym- 
pathy and  counsel.  One  daughter  and  five  sons  were,  the 
issue  of  this  marriage. 


JOSEPH  HIESTER, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1790, 

December  19, 1820,  to  December  16,  1823. 

THE  remote  ancestors  of  the  Hiester  family  in  this  country 
were  of  Silesian  origin,  and  in  process  of  time  the  de- 
scendants spread  through  the  countries  bordering  on  the 
Rhine.  Three  brothers  of  that  name,  Daniel,  John,  and 
Joseph,  emigrated  to  America  in  the  year  1737,  and  settled 
at  Goshenhoppen,  then  Philadelphia  County,  now  Mont- 
gomery. They  soon  afterwards  purchased  of  the  Proprietary 
Government  a  tract  of  several  thousand  acres  in  Bern  town- 
ship, now  Berks  County.  Here  John  and  Joseph  settled, 
and  on  the  18th  of  November,  1752,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  born.  He  was  the  son  of  John  Hiester,  and  at  an  early 
age  was  put  to  the  lighter  labors  of  the  farm  with  his  father. 
Subduing  the  forest,  and  bringing  the  soil  under  cultivation 
with  the  imperfect  farm  implements  then  in  use  was  a  her- 
culean task,  and  required  a  strong  will  and  stout  hands.  He 
was  himself  accustomed  to  relate,  that  he  was  put  to  the 
plough  so  young  that  when  it  struck  a  stump  or  stone  and 
was  thrown  from  the  furrow,  he  had  not  strength  sufficient 
to  right  it  till  it  had  run  a  considerable  distance,  and  when 
caught  in  a  root  the  rebound  would  sometimes  throw  him 
prostrate. 

The  father  often  recounted  to  the.  son  the  considerations 
which  induced  him  to  leave  the  old  country,  and  to  contrast 
the  freedom  and  independence  that  was  here  enjoyed  with 
the  vassalage  in  which  the  peasantry  were  there  held.  They 
were  kept  perpetually  poor  and  dependent  by  the  burdens  and 

833 


534      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

taxation  imposed  by  the  government  and  the  nobility,  with  no 
prospect  of  any  means  of  improvement.  The  accounts  which 
reached  them  of  prosperous  settlements  in  the  New  "World, 
where  the  hand  of  power  was  scarcely  felt,  gave  them  hope ; 
and  thither  the  brothers  turned  their  faces,  seeking  in  the 
then  wilds  of  Pennsylvania  a  habitation,  where  in  process  of 
time  one  of  their  offspring  came  to  rule  a  State  more  power- 
ful, prosperous,  and  happy  than  the  ancient  civ  nasty  which 
they  left  behind. 

In  the  intervals  of  farm  labor  which  the  winter  season  af- 
forded, the  son  received  the  rudiments  of  an  English  and  Ger- 
man education.  In  1771,  in  his  nineteenth  year,  he  married 
Elizabeth  Whitman,  daughter  of  Adam  Whitman,  a  highly 
respectable  citizen  of  Reading,  then  an  insignificant  village. 
Thither  shortly  after  his  marriage  he  removed,  and  went  into 
mercantile  business  in  company  with  his  father-in-law.  In 
politics  he  was  a  Whig, —  a  party  which  had  been  formed  in 
Pennsylvania  to  oppose  the  policy  of  the  Proprietary  Govern- 
ment, and  which  afterwards  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
Revolution.  As  a  representative  of  that  party  he  was  chosen 
a  member  of  the  State  Conference  which  met  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  18th  of  June,  1776,  and  which  in  reality  assumed  the 
government  of  the  Colony,  called  a  convention  to  frame  a 
new  constitution,  gave  instructions  for  the  guidance  of  its 
representatives  in  Congress,  and  authorized  the  calling  out 
of  troops  for  the  Continental  army.  In  all  these  proceedings 
he  was  a  warm  supporter  of  the  popular  cause. 

He  was  then  a  captain  of  militia,  and  no  sooner  had  the 
Conference  in  Philadelphia  adjourned,  than  he  hastened 
home  to  arouse  the  young  men  of  his  section  to  the  import- 
ance of  joining  the  national  standard,  at  that  time  but  feebly 
supported.  A  biographical  sketch  of  this  period  of  his  life, 
published  in  the  United  States  Gazette,  furnishes  the  following 
graphic  account  of  this  summoning  to  arms  :  "It  was  in  the 
twenty-third  or  twenty-fourth  year  of  his  age  that  General 
Joseph  Hiester  first  rallied  under  the  standard  of  his  country, 
and  took  up  arms  in  defence  of  her  independence.  It  was  a 


JOSEPH  HIESTER.  335 

gloomy  period,  at  which  many  hearts,  that  had  beaten  high, 
were  sickened  and  sad  in  the  bosoms  of  those  who  now  had 
melancholy  forebodings  of  the  issue  of  the  contest  in  which 
they  had  cheerfully  embarked  —  at  a  time  when  the  great,  the 
good,  the  peerless  Washington  had  much  cause  to  complain  of 
the  want  of  men  and  means  to  meet  the  enemies  of  his  country. 
It  was  late  in  the  year  1775,  or  early  in  1776,  that  he,  then  a 
vigorous,  powerful,  influential  young  man,  called  together  by 
beat  of  drum  his  fellow-townsmen  of  Reading,  to  take  into 
consideration  the  alarming  state  and  gloomy  prospects  of  their 
country.  Reading  was  then  an  inconsiderable  town  with  a 
small  population.  Having  convened  about  twenty-five  or 
thirty,  he  explained  to  them  the  necessity  there  was,  that 
they  also  should  be  up  and  doing  in  the  cause  of  their  com- 
mon country.  He  stated  that  their  beloved  General  was 
then  believed  to  be  in  a  most  perilous  situation  in  New 
Jersey;  that  his  friends  and  fellow-soldiers  were  but  few, 
while  his  foes  and  the  foes  of  America  were  thickening  and 
multiplying  on  every  side.  Having,  so  far  as  in  his  power, 
embarked  the  sympathies  and  aroused  the  patriotism  of  his 
hearers,  he  expressed  his  anxious  desire  to  raise  a  company 
of  volunteers,  and  march  to  the  assistance  of  Washington. 
He  was  heard  with  attention  and  respect,  and  his  proposition 
was  kindly  received.  He  then  laid  forty  dollars  on  the  drum- 
head, and  said :  '  I  will  give  this  sum  as  a  bounty,  and  the 
appointment  of  a  sergeant  to  the  first  man  who  will  subscribe 
to  the  articles  of  association  to  form  a  volunteer  company  to 
march  forthwith  and  join  the  Commander-in-chief;  and  I 
also  pledge  myself  to  furnish  the  company  with  blankets  and 
necessary  funds  for  their  equipment,  and  on  the  march ! ' 
This  promise  he  honorably  and  faithfully  fulfilled.  After 
our  young  captain  had  thus  addressed  his  neighbors,  they 
consulted  together,  and  Matthias  Babb  stepped  forward  from 
among  them,  signed  the  articles  and  took  the  money  from 
the  drum-head.  This  example,  and  further  advancements  of 
smaller  sums  of  money,  induced  twenty  men  on  that  evening 
to  subscribe  to  the  articles  of  association.  Notices  and  invi 


336      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

tations  were  sent  through  the  neighborhood ;  other  meetings 
were  held,  and  in  ten  days  from  the  first  meeting  Captain 
Hiester  had  eighty  men  enrolled.  They  were  promptly 
organized  and  ready  to  march  to  join  the  Commander-in- 
Chief." 

The  State  authorities  were  engaged  in  forming  what  was 
known  as  a  Flying  Camp.  The  success  which  had  attended 
the  efforts  of  Captain  Hiester  in  obtaining  men  made  them 
desirous  of  inducing  him  to  extend  his  efforts,  and  a  regiment 
or  battalion  was  shortly  obtained.  The  men  would  have  gladly 
made  him  their  Colonel ;  but  this  he  declined  in  favor  of  one 
who  desired  the  position,  as  he  did  also  that  of  Major,  declar- 
ing that  he  would  willingly  serve  in  the  ranks,  if  by  such 
duty  he  could  better  aid  their  common  country.  He  in  good 
faith  went  among  his  men  and  urged  the  choice  of  the  gentle- 
men who  sought  the  positions,  and  by  his  magnanimous  exer- 
tions in  their  behalf  secured  their  election.  Upon  the  arrival 
of  the  command  at  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  it  was  found 
that  General  Washington  had  moved  to  Long  Island,  where- 
upon considerable  dissatisfaction  was  manifested,  many  of  the 
men  claiming  that  by  the  terms  of  enlistment  they  were  not 
obliged  to  leave  their  own  State.  Hiester  was  determined  to 
hasten  forward  to  the  support  of  Washington,  whom  he  knew 
to  be  in  sore  need  of  help.  "  This,"  says  the  authority  above 
cited,  "  was  a  critical  and  painful  state  of  affairs.  What  was 
to  be  done  ?  What  could  be  done  to  induce  the  men  to  go  for- 
ward? They  were  drawn  up  in  a  compact  body,  and  Captain 
Hiester  addressed  them  in  such  honest,  suitable,  and  impas- 
sioned language,  that  they  warmed  as  he  warmed,  they  soon 
felt  as  he  felt,  and  their  hearts  beat  in  unison  with  his.  One 
who  was  present  on  that  trying  occasion,  said  to  me, '  I  wish  to 
God,  I  could  tell  you  what  the  Captain  said,  and  how  the 
men  looked  and  felt ;  "  You  have  marched  thus  far,"  said  he, 
"  resolved  to  fight  your  country's  foes,  and  defend  your  homes 
and  families:  and  will  you  now  prove  cowards  and  desert 
your  country,  when  your  country  most  wants  your  help  ?  I 
would  be  ashamed  to  return  home  with  you  ?  I  will  go  for- 


JOSEPH  HIESTER.  337 

ward,  yes,  if  I  go  by  myself,  I  will  go  and  ^oin  General 
Washington  as  a  volunteer,  as  a  private.  If  you  will  not  go  1 
will  go  alone.  But  surely,"  said  he,  "you  will  not  turn  your 
backs  upon  the  enemy,  and  leave  your  country  at  their  mercy. 
I  will  try  you  once  again  —  Fall  in  !  Fall  into  jour  ranks, 
men !  and  those  who  are  ready  to  fight  for  freedom  and 
America,  will,  when  the  drum  beats,  and  the  word  is  given, 
march  to  join  George  Washington."  The  men  fell  in.  They 
shouldered  their  muskets.  The  drums  were  beaten,  and  on 
the  word  "  March  !  "  the  whole  line,  except  three  men,  moved 
forward.  Those  three  soon  sprang  into  the  ranks,  three 
cheers  were  given,  and  they  were  forthwith  on  their  march  to 
Long  Island.' " 

That  gallant  Captain  little  knew  the  hard  fate  that  was  to 
await  him  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  patriotic  desires.  His 
regiment  joined  the  patriot  army,  and  came  often  in  conflict 
with  the  enemy,  when  many  were  wounded  and  killed.  Fi- 
nally Captain  Hiester  and  most  of  his  surviving  men  were 
taken  prisoners,  and  he,  with  many  other  American  officers, 
was  confined  on  board  the  notorious  prison-ship,  the  Jersey, 
where  they  were  subjected  to  every  indignity  which  refined 
cruelty  could  invent.  British  arms  were  dishonored,  and  the 
British  name  made  hateful  by  the  inhuman  treatment  here 
accorded.  Jonathan  Eussell,  one  of  the  Commissioners  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States  who  concluded  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  in  an  oration  delivered  on  the  4th  of  July,  1800,  at 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  delineated  the  horrors  of  that  im- 
prisonment in  the  following  strain  of  patriotic  frenzy :  "  But 
it  was  not,"  he  says,  "  in  the  ardent  conflicts  of  the  field  only 
that  our  countrymen  fell ;  it  was  not  the  ordinary  chances  of 
war  alone  which  they  had  to  encounter.  Happy  indeed,  and 
thrice  happy  were  Warren,  Montgomery,  and  Mercer ;  happy 
those  other  gallant  spirits  who  fell  with  glory  in  the  heat  of 
battle  distinguished  by  their  country  and  covered  with  her 
applause.  Every  soul,  sensible  to  honor,  envies  rather  than 
compassionates  their  fate.  It  was  in  the  dungeons  of  our  in- 
human invaders ;  it  was  in  their  loathsome  and  pestiferous 
22 


338      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

prison-ships,  that  the  wretchedness  of  our  countrymen  still 
makes  the  heart  bleed.  It  was  there  th'at  hunger  and  thirst, 
and  disease,  and  all  the  contumely  cold-hearted  cruelty  could 
bestow,  sharpened  every  pang  of  death.  Misery  there  wrung 
every  fibre  that  could  feel  before  she  gave  the  blow  of  grace 
which  sent  the  sufferer  to  eternity.  It  is  said  that  poison 
was  employed.  No — there  was  no  such  mercy  there.  There 
nothing  was  employed  which  could  blunt  the  susceptibility 
to  anguish,  or  which  by  hastening  death  could  rob  its  agonies 
of  a  single  pang.  On  board  one  only  of  these  prison-ships 
above  eleven  thousand  of  our  brave  countrymen  are  said  to 
have  perished.  She  was  called  the  Jersey.  Her  wreck  still 
remains,  and  at  low  ebb  presents  to  the  world  its  accursed 
and  blighted  fragments.  Twice  in  twenty-four  hours  the 
winds  of  heaven  sigh  through  it,  and  repeat  the  groans  of 
our  expiring  countrymen,  and  twice  the  ocean  hides  in 
her  bosom  those  deadly  and  polluted  ruins,  which  all  her 
waters  cannot  purify.  Every  rain  that  descends  washes  from 
the  unconsecrated  bank  the  bones  of  those  intrepid  sufferers. 
They  lie  naked  on  the  shore,  accusing  the  neglect  of  their 
countrymen.  How  long  shall  gratitude  and  even  piety  deny 
them  burial  ?  They  ought  to  be  collected  in  one  vast  ossery, 
which  shall  stand  a  monument  to  future  ages,  of  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  the  human  character ;  of  that  depravity  which,  tram- 
pling on  the  rights  of  misfortune,  perpetrated  cold  and  calcu- 
lating murder  on  a  wretched  and  defenceless  prisoner,  and 
that  virtue  which  animated  this  prisoner  to  die  a  willing  mar- 
tyr for  his  country.  Or  rather,  were  it  possible,  there  ought 
there  to  be  raised  a  colossal  column  whose  base,  sinking  to  hell, 
should  let  the  murderers  read  their  infamy  inscribed  on  it,  and 
whose  capital  of  Corinthian  laurel  ascending  to  heaven  should 
show  the  sainted  Patriots  that  they  have  triumphed.  Deep 
and  dreadful  as  the  coloring  of  this  picture  may  appear,  it  is 
but  a  faint  and  imperfect  sketch  of  the  original.  You  must 
remember  a  thousand  unutterable  calamities,  a  thousand  in- 
stances of  domesti^  as  well  as  national  anxiety  and  distress, 
which  mock  descriptio  \  You  ought  to  remember  them, 


JOSEPH  HIESTER.  339 

you  ought  to  hand  them  down  in  tradition  to  5  our  posterity, 
that  they  may  know  the  awful  price  their  fathers  paid  for 
freedom." 

From  this  prison-ship  Captain  Hiester  was  taken,  and  thrust 
into  confinement  in  New^York,  where  the  want  of  food,  and 
general  harsh  treatment  of  the  captives,  was  scarcely  a  remove 
better  than  they  had  experienced  on  board  the  Jersey.  He 
was  here  attacked  with  a  low  fever,  and  became  so  feeble  and 
emaciated  that  he  was  obliged,  in  passing  up  and  down  stairs, 
to  crawl  on  his  hands  and  knees.  After  several  months'  im- 
prisonment he  was  exchanged,  and  was  set  at  liberty,  having 
been  plundered  of  his  money  and  clothing.  He  immediately 
repaired  to  Reading,  and  after  having  regained  his  strength 
returned  to  the  army.  He  arrived  in  time  to  participate  in 
the  battle  of  Germantown,  and  while  engaged  with  a  com- 
pany of  the  enemy's  horse,  he  received  a  wound  in  the  head, 
but  not  of  a  dangerous  nature.  In  the  varied  fortunes  of  the 
patriot  army  he  continued  to  share  until  the  close  of  the  war, 
when,  seeing  the  liberty  of  his  country  fully  assured,  he 
returned  with  joy  to  the  bosom  of  his  family. 

He  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  convention  which  assem- 
bled in  Philadelphia  in  1787  for  the  ratification  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  and  in  1789  he  was  a  member 
of  the  convention  which  framed  the  State  Constitution  of 
1790.  For  several  successive  years,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Legislature,  where  he  was  distinguished  for  his  practical 
knowledge  of  affairs,  and  for  his  good  sense  in  the  duties  of 
legislation.  In  1799,  after  the  removal  of  his  uncle  Daniel, 
who  had  previously  represented  the  Berks  district  in  Con- 
gress, to  Maryland,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  that  body,  to 
which  he  was  regularly  returned  until  1805,  and  again  from 
1815  to  1821,  a  period  of  fourteen  years.  Before  the  expira- 
tion of  his  last  term,  he  resigned  to  accept  the  nomination  of 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  tendered  him  by  the  Independent 
Republican  party,  supported  by  the  .Federalists.  He  was 
elected  over  his  competitor,  Governor  Findlay,  and  served 
for  one  term  of  three  years.  "  It  is  a  fact  well  known,"  saya 


840      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

his  biographer  before  quoted,  "  to  the  political  and  personal 
friends  of  General  Hiester,  that  he  was  reluctantly  induced  to 
become  a  candidate  .for  the  office  of  Governor,  and  that  he 
yielded  his  consent  upon  the  express  and  well  understood 
condition  that  he  would  serve  but  one  period.  It  is  equally 
well  known  that  at  the  end  of  that  period  of  service  he  reso- 
lutely refused  again  to  permit  the  use  of  his  name,  although 
urged  by  partisans  and  by  many  friends  to  be  a  candidate." 

His  administration  was  characterized  by  great  activity  in 
promoting  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  Commonwealth, 
and  especially  in  pushing  forward  its  internal  improvements. 
The  period  was  one  of  sharp  political  contest,  and  the  dispo- 
sition to  attack  those  in  power  and  call  them  in  question  for 
every  offence,  or  conceived  offence,  had  been  exercised  with- 
out license  during  the  rule  of  his  immediate  predecessor.  In 
alluding  to  this  subject  in  his  inaugural  address  he  says:  "But, 
I  trust,  if  any  errors  shall  be  committed,  they  will  not  be 
chargeable  to  intention.  They  will  owe  their  origin  to  the 
imperfection  of  our  nature  and  the  narrow  limits  of  human 
foresight.  They  will  not  proceed  from  a  wilful  neglect  of 
duty  on  my  part,  nor  from  any  want  of  devotion  to  the  best 
interests  of  our  beloved  country.  Such  errors  I  may  justly 
hope  will  meet  with  indulgence  from  an  enlightened  and 
liberal  people.  Where  censure  shall,  upon  a  full  and  impar- 
tial view  of  matters,  be  merited,  let  it  not  be  withheld.  It  ia 
the  duty  of  freemen  to  examine  closely  into  the  conduct  of 
those  to  whom  they  have  delegated  their  power,  or  the  guar- 
dianship of  their  rights  and  interests,  to  censure  the  abuse  of 
the  one,  or  the  neglect  and  mismanagement  of  the  other. 
Considering  myself  as  elected  by  the  people  of  this  Common- 
wealth, and  not  by  any  particular  denomination  of  persons,  I 
shall  endeavor  to  deserve  the  name  of  Chief  Magistrate  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  to  avoid  the  disgraceful  appellation  of  the 
Governor  of  a  party." 

As  has  already  been  noticed  in  the  sketch  of  Governor 
.Fmdlay,  the  enormous  patronage  at  the  disposal  of  the  Exec- 
utive had  become  very  troublesome.  Its  dispensation  had 


JOSEPH  HIESTER.  341 

actually  become  an  object  of  dread  to  everyone  who  approached 
it,  and  we  find  Governor  Hiester  calling  the  attention  of  the 
Legislature,  among  other  subjects  of  reform,  to  the  devising 
of  some  means  of  relief  therefrom.  "  Permit  me,"  he  says, 
11  to  suggest  to  you,  whether  it  would  not  be  possible  to  de- 
vise some  method  of  'reducing  the  enormous  power  and  pa- 
tronage of  the  Governor,  without  impairing  the  other  general 
features  of  our  present  excellent  Constitution ;  and  whether 
the  annual  sessions  of  the  Legislature  might  not  be  shortened 
without  detriment  to  the  public  good.  ...  It  also  deserves 
serious  consideration  whether  public  improvements  might 
not  at  this  time  be  advantageously  made,  and  domestic  manu- 
factures encouraged  with  success.  Above  all  it  appears  an  im- 
perative duty  to  introduce  and  support  a  liberal  system  of  education 
connected  with  some  general  religious  instruction" 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  he  withdrew  alto- 
gether from  public  employments,  and  sought  that  peace  and 
quiet  in  private  life  to  which  a  long  period  of  public  service 
had  justly  entitled  him.  He  died  on  the  10th  of  June,  1832, 
in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  in  the  grounds 
of  the  German  Reformed  church  at  Reading.  The  attend- 
ance of  the  military,  and  other  demonstrations  of  respect  and 
attachment,  which  were  promptly  tendered,  were  declined, 
and  he  was  followed  to  the  grave  by  a  great  concourse  of 
mourning  relatives  and  fellow-citizens,  without  display  or 
ostentation,  in  keeping  with  the  republican  simplicity  which 
had  marked  the  whole  course  of  his  long  and  useful  life. 

The  last  paragraph  of  his  last  annual  message  to  the  Legis- 
lature, that  in  which  he  took  a  final  leave  of  all  public  em- 
ployments, is  so  instinct  with  devotion  and  pathetic  tender- 
ness that  it  may  properly  form  the  conclusion  to  this  memoir. 
"  Having  been,"  he  says,  "  for  nearly  fifty  years  occasionally 
engaged  in  various  highly  responsible  situations  in  the  ser- 
vice of  my  country,  having  witnessed  its  progress  from  Colo- 
nial vassalage  to  independence  and  sovereignty,  it  is  with 
most  sincere  pleasure  that,  on  quitting  the  theatre  of  action, 
I  can  congratulate  you,  and  our  fellow-citizens  at  large,  en  the 


342      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

propitious  situation  in  which  it  is  now  placed ;  and  I  avail 
myself  of  the  occasion  it  affords  of  repeating  my  fervent 
prayers  to  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  under  whose 
superintending  influence  it  has  attained  to  its  present  emi- 
nence, that  he  may  continue  to  cherish  it  with  his  fostering 
care,  preserving,  its  citizens  in  the  free  enjoyment  of  their 
just  rights  and  republican  institutions,  until  all  earthly  gov- 
ernments shall  be  terminated  by  the  consummation  of  time." 


JOHN  ANDREW  SHULZE, 

GOVERNOR  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION   OF   1790. 

December  16,  1823,  to  December  15,  1829. 

POLITICAL  organizations  underwent  a  radical  transforma- 
tion during  the  administration  of  Governor  Shulze.  The 
discussions  in  the  convention  which  framed  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  gave  birth  to  two  parties  in  that  body. 
When  the  conventions  met  in  the  several  States  to  ratify  it, 
discussions  of  the  same  purport  were  repeated,  the  members 
ranging  themselves  on  opposite  sides  as  in  the  originating 
assembly.  The  newspapers  were  likewise  divided,  and 
through  them  the  people.  The  one  party  believed  that  the 
Constitution  gave  the  States  too  much  power,  and  favored 
a  greater  degree  of  strength  and  centralization  in  the  Na- 
tional Government,  while  the  other  with  equal  zeal  argued 
that  the  States  were  shorn  of  their  sovereignty  and  despoiled 
of  their  rights.  Washington  was,  however,  elected  with 
great  unanimity  the  first  President,  though  he  was  known  to 
strongly  favor  the  Constitutional  party.  His  Cabinet  wa3 
divided,  and  as  the  terms  Federal  and  Republican  came  into 
use  as  the  designations  of  the  two  parties,  Adams  and  Ham- 
ilton allied  themselves  with  the  former,  while  Jefferson  led 
the  latter.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  these  parties  combated 
each  other  with  great  ability,  and  often  with  acrimony.  At 
the  end  of  that  period,  a  degeneracy,  which  had  for  some 
time  been  perceptible,  culminated  in  a  general  dissolution, 
and  the  two  old  parties  were  known  no  more. 

In  the  election  of  a  Governor  in  1823,  Andrew  Gregg  was 
supported  by  the  independent  Republicans  and  Federalists, 

343 


344      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

which  had  twice  before  triumphed,  the  latter  party  in  con- 
vention at  Lancaster,  over  which  James  Buchanan  presided, 
resolving  that  ""We,  as  Federalists,  will  support  Andrew 
Gregg,  of  Centre  County,  for  Governor  of  Pennsylvania." 
The  Republicans  nominated  John  Andrew  Shulze,  and  we're 
again  successful. 

Mr.  Shulze  was  born  on  the  19th  of  July,  1775,  in  Tulpe- 
hocken  township,  Berks  County,  Pennsylvania.  His  father 
was  a  clergyman  of  the  German  Lutheran  Church,  and  had 
several  congregations  to  which  he  ministered.  The  son 
received  his  early  instruction  in  English  and  German  from 
his  father.  He  was  afterwards  put  to  an  institution  in  Lan- 
caster, and  while  there  was  under  the  immediate  care  of  his 
uncle,  Dr.  Henry  Muhlenberg.  He  completed  his  prepara- 
tion for  college  in  York  County,  under  the  instruction  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Melsheimer. 

He  received  a  finished  classical  education  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  afterwards  studied  theology  there  with  his 
uncle,  Dr.  Kunze,  a  celebrated  divine  of  that  day.  In  1796, 
he  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  German  Lutheran 
Synod,  and  was  shortly  afterwards  ordained  a  minister  in 
that  church.  For  a  period  of  six  years  he  officiated  as  pastor 
of  several  congregations  in  Berks  County,  and  was  esteemed 
and  loved  by  all  who  knew  him. 

In  1802  a  rheumatic  affection  from  which  he  had  long  suf- 
fered obliged  him  to  suspend  his  labors  in  the  ministry,  and 
two  years  later,  finding  no  improvement  in  his  condition,  he 
was  induced  to  seek  other  occupation.  He  accordingly  en- 
tered upon  mercantile  business  in  the  village  of  Myerstown, 
then  Dauphin  County,  in  which  he  continued  for  several 
years,  accumulating  a  small  fortune. 

In  1806  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  re-elected  for  the  two  suc- 
ceeding years.  He  was  urged  by  his  constituents  to  accept  a 
nomination  for  a  fourth  term,  but  declined.  The  journals 
show  that  during  the  period  in  which  he  was  in  the  House, 
there  was  no  more  active  or  efficient  member  than  Mr. 


JOHN  ANDREW  SHULZE.  345 

Shulze,  or  one  whose  votes  will  better  stand  the  test  of  minute 
scrutiny.  He  was  a  consistent  Republican  throughout,  mani- 
festing an  ardent  attachment  to  the  Constitution,  and  the 
principles  which  he  had  received  from  a  pious  and  patriotic 
father,  and  which  characterized  the  whole  course  of  his  life. 

His  business  qualifications  and  his  probity  attracted  the 
attention  of  Governor  Snyder,  who,  in  1813,  appointed  him 
Surveyor-General  of  the  State.  This  office,  at  that  time  an 
important  and  responsible  one,  he  declined.  Governor  Sny- 
der then  tendered  him  the  positions  of  Register,  Recorder, 
Prothonotary,  Clerk  of  the  Orphans'  Court,  and  Clerk  in  the 
Sessions  Court  of  Lebanon  County,  which  he  accepted.  In 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  this  office  he  continued  until 
the  expiration  of  Governor  Snyder's  term,  when  he  was  re- 
commissioned  under  the  appointment  of  Governor  Findlay. 
In  the  early  part  of  1821,  though  warmly  solicited  by  large 
numbers  of  the  citizens  to  remain  in  this  position,  he  resigned, 
and  was  in  October  of  that  year  elected  to  represent  Lebanon 
County  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  In  the  following 
year  he  was  chosen  a  State  Senator  for  Dauphin  and  Lebanon 
counties,  carrying  the  district  by  a  large  majority,  though 
opposed  by  a  well-organized  party. 

Before  he  had  been  a  year  in  the  Senate,  he  was  selected 
as  candidate  for  Governor  by  the  Republican  party,  and  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  over  twenty-five  thousand.  He  was 
nominated  for  a  second  term  in  1826,  and  was  elected  with  a 
unanimity  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  Government, 
receiving  over  seventy-two  thousand  votes,  while  his  op- 
ponent, John  Sergeant,  got  but  about  one  thousand.  He 
had  immense  patronage  to  bestow,  having  in  addition  to  that 
originally  given  by  the  Constitution,  now  grown  to  enormous 
proportions,  that  recently  created  by  the  legislation  for  the 
public  works.  In  commenting  upon  this  feature  of  his  ad- 
ministration, a  recent  political  writer  says :  "  This  power 
was  exercised  with  great  prudence  and  good  judgment.  It 
might  indeed  be  said  that  Governor  Shulze  called  the  best 
sense  of  the  State  around  him.  His  officers  everywhere  were 
capable  and  honest." 


346      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

This  was  an  era  when  stupendous  plans  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Commonwealth  were  adopted  and  put  in  execu- 
tion. Questioning  the  propriety  of  the  State  assuming  to 
execute  the  functions  of  a  corporation  in  opening  avenues  of 
traffic,  he  opposed  the  loan  of  a  million  of  dollars  which  was 
authorized  by  the  Legislature,  but  was  obliged  to  yield  to  the 
will  of  the  people,  and  before  the  close  of  his  second  term 
six  millions  had  been  borrowed. 

It  was  soon  after  his  first  election,  in  1823,  that  the  old 
parties  were  broken  up,  none  after  that  calling  themselves 
Federalists.  Indeed,  the  term  Federalist  became  odious ; 
but  from  its  ashes  there  sprang  a  party  that  became  more 
powerful  than  any  which  before  or  since  has  borne  sway  in 
this  country.  Every  Federal  newspaper  in  Pennsylvania, 
except  three,  the  United  States  Gazette,  of  Philadelphia,  The 
Village  Record,  of  West  Chester,  and  the  Pittsburg  Gazette, 
joined  in  its  support.  In  the  national  election  of  1824, 
parties  being  in  a  disorganized  state,  there  was  no  choice  for 
President  by  the  people,  Crawford,  Adams,  Clay,  Calhoun, 
and  Jackson  being  supported.  John  Quincy  Adams  was 
elected  by  the  House  of  Representatives.  But  in  1828,  Jack- 
son was  chosen,  receiving  a  majority  of  fifty  thousand  in 
Pennsylvania,  his  brilliant  victory  at  New  Orleans,  gained 
with  scarcely  a  casualty  on  our  side,  creating  immense  en- 
thusiasm among  the  people  in  his  favor.  In  1824,  the 
nation's  early  friend  and  benefactor,  General  Lafayette,  re- 
visited the  scenes  of  his  former  trials  and  final  triumphs. 
Governor  Shulze  had  the  satisfaction  of  welcoming  the  hero 
to  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania,  which  he  did  at  Morrisville  in 
a  brief  but  eloquent  and  impressive  speech. 

In  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature,  immediately  suc- 
ceeding the  election  of  President  Jackson,  Governor  Shulze 
expresses  his  views  of  the  duties  of  the  citizen  in  acquiescing 
in  the  will  of  the  majority,  and  of  giving  the  successful  can- 
didate a  cordial  support,  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  most 
thoughtful  consideration.  He  says,  "  In  the  organization  of 
our  government  of  the  Union  and  of  the  State,  the  simple 


JOHN  ANDREW  SHULZE.  547 

and  efficient  principle  which  secures  our  welfare  and  repose, 
is,  that  the  will  of  the  majority  shall  rule,  and  whenever  that 
will  is  constitutionally  expressed,  whether  it  be  by  election 
or  by  legislation,  it  is  the  plain  duty,  as  it  must  always  be  the 
pleasure,  to  every  public  functionary,  cheerfully  to  concur. 
To  him  the  laws  are  the  laws  of  the  people ;  and  to  him  the 
magistrate  is  the  magistrate  of  the  people,  by  them  right- 
fully invested  with  authority  for  their  benefit,  and  entrusted 
with  so  much  power  as  the  Constitution  confers  upon  the 
office.  At  seasons  of  elections,  especially  for  the  higher  sta- 
tions, there  will  often  be  great  excitement,  proportioned  to  the 
interest  produced  by  the  occasion,  and  indicative  of  the  soli- 
citude naturally  felt  in  the  delegation  of  important  public 
trusts.  It  is  the  right  of  the  citizen  freely  and  actively  to 
take  his  post  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  judgment.  The 
election  over,  and  its  result  known,  he  who  has  the  majority 
is  entitled  to  be  honored  and  respected  as  the  people's  choice, 
and  to  be  supported  in  his  efforts  faithfully  to  fulfil  and  dis- 
charge his  duties.  Such  a  season  has  just  passed,  and  fur- 
nished a  new  evidence  of  the  stability  and  excellence  of  our 
form  of  government.  If,  in  its  progress,  there  has  been  more 
than  usual  warmth,  it  is  now  at  an  end.  The  question  which 
caused  it  is  decided.  Every  good  citizen  will  acquiesce  in 
the  decision,  and  every  public  functionary,  governed  by  the 
same  motive  which  influenced  him  to  abstain  from  embark- 
ing his  official  character  in  the  contest,  while  it  is  going  on, 
will  find  himself  placed  in  no  new  position,  but  maintaining 
the  relation  to  the  high  officer  elected,  which  the  Constitution 
creates,  and  ready,  within  his  allotted  sphere,  cordially  to 
cooperate  with  him  for  the  common  good." 

None  of  the  predecessors  of  Governor  Shulze  had  come  to 
that  high  office  with  so  much  scholastic  culture  and  grace,  as 
he.  He  truly  appreciated  the  value  of  education ;  and  as  he 
looked  over  the  broad  face  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  saw  a 
vast  and  rapidly  increasing  population  without  adequate 
means  of  school  instruction,  his  heart  was  moved,  and  his 
sympathies  were  aroused  in  their  behalf.  He  knew  the  will 


348      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  0^1790. 

of  the  founder  in  this  regard.  He  knew  the  provisions  of  the 
organic  law;  and  he  was  unwilling  to  rest  satisfied  so  long  a^ 
the  intentions  of  the  founders  remained  unfulfilled.  His  mes- 
sages are  replete  with  the  most  urgent  appeals  for  some  legis- 
lation which  should  secure  the  privileges  of  elementary  edu- 
cation to  all.  In  that  of  1827,  he  says  :  "Among  the  injunc- 
tions of  the  Constitution,  there  is  none  more  interesting 
than  that  which  enjoins  it  as  a  duty  on  the  Legislature  to 
provide  for  the  education  of  the  poor  throughout  the  Com- 
monwealth. Whether  we  regard  it  in  its  probable  influence 
upon  the  stability  of  our  free  republican  governments,  or  as 
it  may  contribute  to  social  and  individual  happiness,  it  equally 
deserves  the  earnest  and  unremitted  attention  of  those  who 
are  honored  with  the  high  trust  of  providing  for  the  public 
welfare.  If  the  culture  of  the  understanding  and  the  heart 
be  entirely  neglected  in  early  life,  there  is  great  reason  to 
fear  that  evil  propensities  will  take  root,  while,  with  proper 
discipline,  there  might  have  been  a  rich  harvest  of  usefulness 
and  worth.  A  knowledge  of  our  rights,  and  a  sense  of  our 
duties,  a  just  estimate  of  the  value  of  the  blessings  we  enjoy, 
and  an  habitual  desire  to  preserve  them,  are  the  wholesome 
fruits  of  that  'good  seed,  which  it  is  the  object,  and,  with 
the  favor  of  Providence,  the  effect,  of  moral  and  intellectual 
instruction  to  implant.  It  cannot  be  supplied  to  all  in  equal 
measure,  but  it  is  hoped  that  the  time  will  come  when  none 
shall  be  left  entirely  destitute.  Then  will  the  Legislature 
truly  be  in  this  respect,  what  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
desired  it  should  be,  a  parent  to  the  children  of  the  poor ;  and 
they  in  return  will  have  strong  inducements  to  love  and  to 
honor,  and  to  do  their  utmost  to  perpetuate  the  free  institu- 
tions from  which  they  derive  so  signal  a  benefit,  so  prolific  a 
source  of  happiness." 

Again,  in  his  message  of  the  following  year  he  urges  upon 
the  attention  of  the  Legislature  the  importance  of  immediate 
action,  and  adduces  new  and  weighty  considerations  to  enforce 
his  views.  "  The  mighty  works,"  he  says,  "  and  consequent 
great  expenditure  *  undertaken  by  the  State,  cannot  induce 


JOHN  ANDREW  SHULZE.  349 

me  to  forbear  again  calling  attention  to  the  subject  j)f  public 
education.  To  devise  means  for  the  establishment  )f  a  fund, 
and  the  adoption  of  a  plan,  by  which  the  blessii.gs  of  the 
more  necessary  branches  of  education  should  be  conferred 
on  every  family  within  our  borders,  would  be  every  way 
worthy  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania ;  an  attention  to  this 
subject,  at  this  time,  would  seem  to  be  peculiarly  demanded, 
by  the  increased  number  of  children  and  young  persons  who 
are  employed  in  manufactories.  It  would  be  desirable  for 
the  employers  and  parents,  as  well  as  children,  that  this  mat- 
ter should  early  engage  the  attention,  and  be  early  acted  upon 
by  the  Legislature,  inasmuch  as  it  will  be  easier  in  the  infancy 
of  manufactories,  to  adopt  and  enforce  a  liberal  system,  than 
it  would  be  to  establish  such  a  system  when  thousands  more 
children  shall  be  employed  than  are  at  this  time.  The  estab- 
lishment of  such  principles  would  not  only  have  the  happiest 
effects  in  cultivating  the  minds,  but  invigorating  the  physical 
constitutions  of  the  young.  What  nobler  incentive  can  pre- 
sent itself  to  the  mind  of  a  republican  legislator,  than  a  hope 
that  his  labor  shall  be  rewarded  by  insuring  to  his  country, 
a  race  of  human  beings,  healthy,  and  of  vigorous  constitu- 
tions, and  of  minds  more  generally  improved  than  fall  to  the 
lot  of  any  considerable  portion  of  the  human  family ! " 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  second  term  Governor  Shulze 
retired  from  public  life,  and  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits. 
His  kindness  of  heart  induced  him  always  to  lend  a  listening 
ear  to  those  in  trouble,  and  his  counsel  was  often  sought  by 
the  community  among  whom  he  dwelt.  In  1839  he  was 
elected  a  senatorial  delegate  to  the  National  Convention 
which  assembled  at  Harrisburg  to  nominate  candidates  for 
President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and  was 
chosen  one  of  the  vice-presidents  on  that  occasion.  In  the 
following  year  he  was  a  member  of  the  Electoral  College, 
of  which  he  was  unanimously  chosen  president.  In  1846  he 
removed  with  his  family  to  Lancaster,  where  he  continued  to 
reside  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  18th  of  Novem 
ber,  1852,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age. 


GEORGE  WOLF, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER  THE   CONSTITUTION   OF   1790. 

December  15,  1829,  to  December  15,  1835. 

r\  EORGE  WOLF,  the  seventh  Governor  of  Pennsylvania, 
^-J  was  born  in  Allen  township,  Northampton  County,  on 
the  12th  of  August,  1777.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Ger- 
many. He  left  two  sons,  Philip  and  George,  who  inherited 
the  vigor,  good  sense,  and  integrity  of  the  father.  George 
was  educated  at  a  classical  school,  established  in  the  County 
by  a  society  formed  for  the  purpose,  which  was  presided  over 
by  Robert  Andrews,  A.M.,  a  graduate  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin.  He  here  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages,  and  of  the  sciences  usually  pursued  in 
a  liberal  education.  Leaving  this  school,  he  for  a  time  had 
the  charge  of  his  father's  farm,  and  also  acted  as  principal 
of  the  academy  in  his  native  township.  He  soon  after  entered 
the  Prothonotary's  office  of  Northampton  County  as  a  clerk, 
and  at  the  same  time  studied  law  under  the  direction  of  the 
Hon.  John  Ross. 

He  early  espoused  the  political  principles  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
and  in  1J99  advocated  the  election  of  Thomas  McKean  for 
Governor,  the  latter  being  at  that  time  affiliated  with  the  Re- 
publicans. When  Mr.  Jefferson  became  President,  he  ap- 
pointed Mr.  Wolf  Postmaster  at  Easton.  Afterwards  Gov- 
ernor McKean  appointed  him  Clerk  of  the  Orphans'  Court  of 
Northampton  County,  which  position  he  held  until  1809.  In 
1814,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  lower  house  of  the 
Legislature,  and  in  the  following  year  was  a  candidate  for  the 
Senate;  but  was  defeated  on  account  of  a  rupture  of  the 
party  and  the  formation  of  a  double  ticket. 

350 


ULORGE  WOLF.  351 

In  1824,  lie  was  elected  a  member  of  the  United  States 
House  of  Representatives,  and  was  reflected  for  the  two  suc- 
ceeding terms,  having  no  opposition  in  the  first  two  elections, 
and  being  returned  in  the  latter  by  a  very  large  majority. 
While  in  Congress  he  acquired  the  reputation  of  a  hard 
worker,  and  a  conscientious,  upright  member.  In  debate  he 
spoke  like  Abraham  Davenport  in  song  — 

"  Wisely  and  well, 

Straight  to  the  question,  with  no  figures  of  speech 
Save  the  ten  Arab  signs,  yet  not  without 
The  shrewd  dry  humor  natural  to  the  man." 

In  committee  he  evinced  a  disposition  to  carefully  investi- 
gate every  question  which  came  before  him,  willing  with  pa- 
tient industry  to  familiarize  himself  with  the  details  of  sub- 
jects requiring  his  decision,  rather  than  risk  the  possibility 
of  deciding  wrongfully  for  lack  of  knowledge.  He  was  a  pro- 
nounced friend  to  American  industry,  and  labored  and  voted 
for  those  measures  which  would  best  protect  and  foster  it, 
and  build  up  the  prosperity  of  the  country. 

In  1829,  he  was  nominated  as  candidate  for  Governor,  and 
was  triumphantly  elected.  The  following  estimate  of  his  char- 
acter at  this  period  of  his  life,  was  uttered  by  one  who  knew 
him  well,  and  who  in  speaking  his  convictions  but  echoed 
the  sentiments  of  a  vast  body  of  the  people  of  the  Common- 
wealth :  "  With  George  Wolf  I  have  long  been  acquainted. 
He  possesses  sterling  integrity,  a  sound  judgment,  and  strong 
natural  common  sense.  His  constant  intercourse  with  the 
world  hag  made  him  well  acquainted  with  human  nature.  I 
have  known  few,  if  any,  better  judges  of  the  character  of 
men  than  Mr.  Wolf.  He  has  received  a  good  education,  and 
as  a  lawyer  is  remarkable  for  the  strength  and  accuracy  of  his 
judgment.  His  attainments  are  of  a  solid  rather  than  a  bril- 
liant character.  With  these  qualifications  he  possesses  suffi- 
cient firmness  to  make  him  spurn  dictation  from  whatever 
quarter  it  may  proceed.  He  will  himself  be  the  Governor  of 
the  State." 

He  was  not  an  aspirant  for  the  office  of  Governor.     He 


352      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

received  the  nomination  without  knowing  that  any  consider- 
able strength  in  the  nominating  convention  was  in  his  favor. 
But  when  the  will  of  the  people  was  declared,  he  abandoned 
a  lucrative  practice  at  the  Northampton  court,  and  devoted 
himself  unreservedly  to  the  duties  of  chief  magistrate.  The 
State  had  embarked  in  gigantic  schemes  of  public  improve- 
ments designed  to  connect  the  eastern  waters  with  the  west- 
ern,—  traversing  that  formidable  barrier,  the  Alleghany 
range,  —  and  the  rivers  of  the  centre  with  Lake  Erie  and  the 
streams  from  the  north*.  "When  he  took  his  seat  in  the  guber- 
natorial chair,  he  found  these  works  projected  and  in  vari- 
ous stages  of  progress.  An  immense  debt  had  beon  con- 
tracted, and  before  these  expenditures  could  be  made  to  realize 
anything,  the  sum  must  be  doubled  and  quadrupled.  The 
finances  were  in  a  deplorable  condition.  The  revenues 
were  entirely  insufficient  to  meet  even  the  interest  of  the 
debt  already  contracted.  It  was  a  time  when  the  wisest  were 
disposed  to  question  the  policy  of  making  such  vast  expendi 
tures  as  would  be  needed  to  complete  them,  and  even  the 
friends  of  the  works  were  paralyzed  by  the  intensity  of  the 
opposition.  At  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature,  called 
just  before  the  expiration  of  Governor  Shulze's  term,  an  act 
was  passed  authorizing  the  contracting  of  a  temporary  loan 
of  a  million  of  dollars,  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent.,  foi  the 
relief  of  the  most  pressing  needs.  But  the  credit  of  the  State 
was  at  so  low  an  ebb,  that  capitalists  were  unwilling  to  place 
their  money  in  the  hands  of  the  Commonwealth.  In  this 
emergency  it  became  necessary  to  resort  to  a  compulsory 
loan  from  the  banks  whose  charters  required  them  to  lend  to 
the  State.  It  was  at  this  period  that  Governor  Wolf  came 
into  office.  The  outlook  was  most  gloomy,  and  to  a  Gov- 
ernor who  should  have  figured  to  himself  a  rule  of  ease  and 
enjoyment,  would  have  afforded  little  promise.  There  were 
two  courses  for  him  to  pursue,  either  break  down  the  system 
of  improvements,  throw  away  the  most  of  what  had  been 
expended,  and  allow  the  State  to  languish  on  with  paralyzed 
industry,  or  by  a  bold  and  vastly  expensive  policy,  finish  what 


GEORGE  WOLF.  353 

had  been  begun,  even  with  the  certainty  of  compacting  an 
enormous  debt  for  future  generations  to  liquidate.  He  reso- 
lutely took  the  responsibility  of  the  latter  course,  and  he  had  no 
sooner  come  to  the  executive  chair  than  he  addressed  to  the 
Legislature,  in  his  message,  a  recommendation  for  the  vigor- 
ous prosecution  of  the  public  works,  and  the  adoption  of  a 
system  of  taxation  by  which  adequate  funds  would  be  realized 
for  regularly  paying  the  interest  on  past  loans  and  such  as  in 
the  future  might  be  negotiated.  The  independent-  attitude 
assumed  by  the  Governor  had  a  magical  effect.  The  caviller 
was  silenced,  and  the  popular  will  secured.  The  miser  who 
had  hoarded  his  money,  when  the  State  was  in  the  most 
urgent  need,  no  sooner  saw  a  prospect  of  a  bold  and  vigorous 
administration,  and  a  will  to  resort  to  adequate  taxation,  than 
he  unlocked  his  coffers,  and  became  importunate  to  obtain 
State  securities,  even  paying  a  premium  of  fifteen  per  cent, 
to  get  them. 

But  the  most  substantial  and  enduring  merit  of  Governor 
"Wolf  was  evinced  in  his  advocacy  of  a  system  of  popular 
education.  James  Buchanan,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  West 
Chester  previous  to  the  election  of  the  Governor,  had  said; 
"  If  ever  the  passion  of  envy  could  be  excused  a  man  ambitious 
of  true  glory,  he  might  almost  be  justified  in  envying  the 
fame  of  that  favored  individual,  whoever  he  may  be,  whom 
Providence  intends  to  make  the  instrument  in  establishing 
Common  Schools  throughout  this  Commonwealth.  His  task 
will  be  arduous.  He  will  have  many  difficulties  to  encounter, 
and  many  prejudices  to  overcome  ;  but  his  fame  will  exceed 
even  that  of  the  great  Clinton,  in  the  same  proportion  that 
mind  is  superior  to  matter.  Whilst  the  one  has  erected  a 
frail  memorial,  which  like  everything  human  must  decay  and 
perish,  the  other  will  raise  a  monument  which  shall  flourish 
in  immortal  youth,  and  endure  whilst  the  human  soul  shall 
continue  to  exist.  'Ages  unborn  and  nations  yet  behind* 
shall  bless  his  memory."  To  George  Wolf  that  honor  was 
accorded,  and  to  him  in  all  time  to  come,  when  the  inquirer 
shall  seek  to  know  by  whose  voice  and  sturdy  will  that  great 
23 


354      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITLTION  OF  1790. 

boon  was  championed  and  finally  won,  will  the  paeans  of 
gratitude  be  sung. 

Former  chief  magistrates  had  called  the  attention  of  the 
Legislature  to  the  importance  of  the  measure,  but  each  in 
turn  had  failed  to  accomplish  any  substantial  benefit.  It  was 
reserved  for  Governor  "Wolf,  to  make  its  adoption  the  special 
object  of  his  ambition  and  the  cherished  purpose  of  his  ad- 
ministration. He  not  only  advocated  the  measure  in  public 
and  in  private,  but,  Hercules-like,  he  put  his  shoulder  to  the 
wheel,  and  with  his  iron  will  yielded  to  no  temporizing.  In 
his  message  of  December  8th,  1830,  he  says:  "In  bringing 
this  subject  to  your  notice  on  the  present  occasion,  I  am  awace 
that  I  am  repeating  that  which  has  been  the  theme  of  every 
inaugural  address,  and  of  every  annual  executive  message  at 
the  opening  of  each  successive  session  of  the  Legislature, 
since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  I  know  too,  that  the 
necessity  which  has  existed,  and  which  has  given  occasion, 
for  the  repeated,  anxious,  and  pressing  executive  recommen- 
dations, in  reference  to  this  interesting  subject,  arose  from 
the  extreme  difficulty  which  presented  itself  at  every  attempt 
to  strike  out  a  system  adapted  to  the  existing  circumstances 
of  the  Commonwealth,  and  which  might  be  calculated  to 
accomplish  the  end  contemplated  by  the  framers  of  the  Con- 
stitution. But  difficult  as  the  task  may  be,  it  is  not  insur- 
mountable, and  I  am  thoroughly  persuaded  that  there  is  not 
a  single  measure  of  all  those  which  will  engage  your  delibera- 
tions in  the  course  of  the  session,  of  such  intrinsic  importance 
to  the  general  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  people  of  the 
Commonwealth,  to  the  cause  of  public  virtue  and  of  public 
morals,  to  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion to  whom  the  future  political  destinies  of  the  Republic 
are  to  be  committed,  or  which  will  add  so  much  to  the  sum 
of  individual"  and  social  improvement  and  comfort,  as  a 
general  diffusion  of  the  means  of  moral  and  intellectual 
cultivation  among  all  classes  of  our  citizens.  Nor  can  there 
be  a  measure  presented  to  you,  as  legislators,  and  as  the 
guardians  of  the  integrity  and  safety  of  our  invaluable  civil 


GEORGE  WOLF.  355 

institutions,  more  worthy  of  a  virtuous  and  determined  effort 
to  overcome  every  obstacle  that  shall  present  itself  in  opposi-. 
tion  to  the  accomplishment  of  an  achievement  so  truly  lauda- 
ble. .  .  .  Among  the  principal  adversaries  of  this  measure  are 
prejudice,  avarice,  ignorance,  and  error.  The  fruits  of  a  suc- 
cessful conflict  with  these,  and  a  victory  over  them,  will  be  a 
consciousness  of  having  been  instrumental,  by  furnishing  the 
means  of  a  general  diffusion  of  knowledge,  in  securing  the 
stability  and  permanency  of  our  Republican  institutions,  in 
adding  to  the  sum  of  human  intelligence,  and  in  elevating 
the  sentiments  and  confirming  the  virtue  of  the  present  and 
future  generations. 

"  If  knowledge  is  power,  and  I  believe  the  truth  of  the 
maxim  is  no  longer  doubted,  it  must  be  conceded  that  a  well 
educated  people  will  always  possess  a  moral  and  physical 
energy,  far  exceeding  that  to  which  "an  ignorant,  illiterate 
people  can  attain.  It  is  asserted,  in  a  document  recently  pub- 
lished at  the  instance  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Public  Schools,  that  out  of  four  hundred  thou- 
sand children  in  this  State,  between  the  ages  of  five  and  fif- 
teen, more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  capable  of 
receiving  instruction,  were  not  within  a  school  during  the  last 
year !  And  is  it  not  more  than  probable  that,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible to  ascertain  the  fact,  every  year  that  has  elapsed  since 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  would,  upon  examination, 
have  been  found  to  present  the  same  deplorable  result  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree.  If  so,  what  an  incalculable  loss  has  not 
this  Commonwealth  sustained,  in  the  talents  that  would  have 
been  elicited,  in  the  ingenuity  and  skill  that  would  have 
been  imparted  to  labor  and  science,  and  in  the  moral  and 
intellectual  endowments  that  would  have  been  engrafted  and 
matured,  had  a  judicious,  well-arranged  system  of  universal 
education  been  early  adopted,  and  rightly  enforced,  as  con- 
templated and  enjoined  by  the  framers  of  the  Constitution. 
To  you,  fellow-citizens,  as  the  representatives  of  the  people, 
possessing,  as  you  necessarily  must,  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  wants,  as  well  as  the  views  and  wishes  of  your  con- 


356      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

etituents,  in  reference  to  this  measure,  and  bringing  with  you, 
from  every  section  of  the  State,  a  fund  of  intelligence  which 
will  be  peculiarly  useful  in  directing  you  to  favorable  results, 
is  committed  the  arduous,  but  I  trust  not  ungrateful  task,  of 
collecting,  digesting,  and  arranging  the  details  of  a  system 
of  primary  or  common-school  education,  which  will  shed  an 
additional  lustre  over  the  existing  elevated  character  of  the 
Commonwealth." 

The  earnestness  with  which  the  Governor  pleads  in  behalf 
of  his  favorite  measure,  and  the  more  than  paternal  tender- 
ness with  which  he  urges  the  claims  of  the  rising  generation, 
could  not  fail  to  arrest  attention,  and  convince  men  of  his 
sincerity.  Better  than  any  description  or  eulogium,  it  illus- 
trates the  character  of  his  head  and  his  heart.  Though  it 
had  not  the  effect  to  bring  about  the  passage  of  an  act  estab- 
lishing a  system,  it  secured  the  first  step  towards  it:  the  levy- 
ing of  a  tax  for  a  school  fund.  He  did  not  content  himself 
with  calling  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  to  the  subject, 
and  adducing  the  most  powerful  arguments  in  its  favor;  but 
he  descended  to  the  practical  details  for  securing  the  informa- 
tion necessary  to  frame  a  law  commensurate  with  the  exalted 
purpose,  and  well  adapted  to  the  wants  to  be  subserved.  In 
his  message  of  the  following  year,  he  says :  "  It  is  cause  for  no 
ordinary  measure  of  gratification,  that  the  Legislature  at  its 
last  session  considered  this  subject  worthy  of  its  deliberations, 
and  advanced  one  step  towards  the  intellectual  regeneration 
of  the  State  by  laying  a  foundation  for  raising  a  fund  to  be  em- 
ployed hereafter  in  the  righteous  cause  of  a  practical  general 
education ;  and  it  is  no  less  gratifying  to  know,  that  public 
opinion  is  giving  strong  indications  of  having  undergone  a 
favorable  change  in  reference  to  this  momentous  measure, 
and  by  its  gradual  but  powerful  workings,  is  fast  dispelling 
the  grovelling  fallacies,  but  too  long  prevalent,  that  gold  is 
preferable  to  knowledge,  and  that  dollars  and  cents  are  of  a 
higher  estimation  than  learning.  This  powerful  lever,  by 
which  the  actions  of  men  are  principally  regulated,  is  fast 
approaching  a  crisis  in  relation  to  this  much  agitated  ques- 
tion, and  there  is  reason  to  believe,  will  speedily  induce  legis- 


GEORGE  WOLF.  357 

lative  action  in  reference  to  it :  not,  it  is  hoped,  howe\Jr,  too 
speedily  for  maturing  a  well-digested  system,  possessing  that 
degree  of  perfection  by  which  it  will  be  rendered  generally 
acceptable  to  the  people,  and  have  a  tendency  to  realize  the 
ardent  hopes  and  fond  anticipations  of  its  many  warm  and 
zealous  friends.  A  system  that  would  not  have  such  a  ten- 
dency, but  would  be  received  with  dissatisfaction  by  the  peo- 
ple, would  have  the  unhappy  effect  of  blasting  for  a  time  the 
anxious  expectations  of  the  advocates  of  general  education, 
of  reviving  former  prejudices,  and  of  retarding  for  many 
years  the  progress  of  intellectual  improvement.  In  order, 
therefore,  that  a  system,'the  most  perfect  that  can  be  devised, 
and  one  that  will  be  best  adapted  to  the  views  and  wishes  of 
our  constituents,  may  be  projected  in  the  first  instance,  should 
any  difficulties  occur  in  the  course  of  your  deliberations  in 
relation  to  the  subject,  or  in  regard  to  the  most  eligible  plan 
to  be  adopted,  I  would  suggest  for  your  consideration  the  pro- 
priety of  appointing  a  commission,  to  consist  of  three  or  more 
talented  and  intelligent  individuals,  known  friends  of  a  liberal 
and  enlightened  system  of  education,  whose  duty  it  should 
be  to  collect  all  the  information,  and  possess  themselves  of  all 
the  facts  and  knowledge,  that  can  be  obtained  from  any 
quarter,  having  a  bearing  upon,  or  connection  with,  the  sub- 
ject of  education,  and  to  arrange  and  embody  the  same  in  a 
report  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Legislature  at  the  next  ses- 
sion for  examination  and  final  action  thereon.  Such  a  course, 
there  is  reason  to  believe,  would  tend  more  than  any  other  to 
elicit  much  valuable  information  that  could  not  otherwise  be 
obtained,  would  facilitate  the  progress  and  final  completion 
of  this  much  desired  work,  and  would  not  fail  to  secure  for 
it  a  greater  measure  of  perfection  than  could  under  other 
circumstances  be  attained." 

In  compliance  with  this  judicious  recommendation  of  the 
Governor,  "  by  great  industry,  assiduity,  and  perseverance,  a 
mass  of  valuable  information  was  obtained,  which  unfolded 
a  fund  of  knowledge  in  relation  to  the  advantages,  the  utility, 
the  cheapness, — in  short,  the  decided  preference  which  a 
system  of  common  schools,  of  general  interest,  and  sustained 


358      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

and  encouraged  by  the  public  bounty,  maintained  over  every 
other  plan  of  education  of  a  private  or  partial  character." 
Being  thus  provided,  a  bill  was  drawn  embodying  what  were 
believed  to  be  the  best  features  of  those  systems  which  had 
been  most  successful  in  other  States,  and  at  the  session  of 
1834  it  "  passed  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  with  a 
unanimity,"  says  the  Governor,  "  rarely  equalled,  perhaps 
never  surpassed,  in  the  annals  of  legislation."  It  was  a  con- 
summation for  which  he  had  long  and  earnestly  labored,  and 
must  have  been  a  source  of  gratification  and  a  subject  of 
gratulation  through  life,  that  his  administration  was  graced 
with  an  event  of  such  momentous  import.  There  were  still 
troubles  to  be  encountered  in  putting  it  into  successful 
operation,  and  great  labors  were  required  of  his  successors 
in  preserving  the  principle  intact.  But  the  Rubicon  was 
passed,  the  system  was  inaugurated,  and,  thanks  to  the  labors 
of  wise  men  and  the  care  of  an  overruling  Providence,  the 
banner  then  thrown  to  the  breeze  has  never  been  furled. 

Previous  to  the  administration  of  Governor  Wolf,  the  chief 
magistrates  had  had  their  offices  in  their  private  residences. 
Visitors  upon  business  or  courtesy  were  exposed  to  the 
prying  eyes  of  the  public,  and  they  were  alike  viewed  with 
suspicion  as  desiring  office,  or  intent  upon  influencing  the 
Governor  in  regard  to  appointments.  Governor  Wolf  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  front  room  over  the  hall  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  capitol, 
where  during  business  -  hours  he  was  always  to  be  found 
intently  employed  in  the  duties  of  his  official  trust.  This 
action  of  the  Governor  gave  great  satisfaction.  It  was  :aid: 
"When  the  citizen  is  in  the  capitol,  he  is  in  fcis  own  house, 
and  when  he  approaches  the  Governor's  room,  he  is  not  inter- 
rupted by  servants  in  waiting,  nor  has  he  the  apprehension 
of  intruding  upon  the  Governor's  privacy.  By  this  act  he 
has  relieved  his  fellow-citizens  from  all  disagreeable  incidents 
and  embarrassments  calculated  to  keep  the  citizen  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  Chief  Executive  officer." 

Laying  aside  all  exclusiveness  and  aristocratic  associations, 
he  met  every  man  on  terms  of  equality,  and  gave  his  personal 


GEORGE  WOLF.  359 

attention  even  to  the  details  of  business.  This  latter  trait  was 
made  the  subject  of  animadversion  in  the  press  of  a  neigh- 
boring State,  which  a  contemporary  thus  courteously  but  effec- 
tively answered  :  "  The  Philadelphia  Gazette,  lately  adverted  to 
the  business  habits  of  Governor  Wolf,  and  spoke  in  com- 
mendation of  his  regular  daily  attendance,  in  his  office,  at 
particular  hours,  his  cordial  reception  of  those  who  visited 
him  there,  and  the  dispatch  of  the  immediate  business  of  his 
office  without  the  agency  of  a  clerk.  Upon  this  the  New 
York  Standard  bsstows  a  sneer,  saying :  '  We  trust  the  honest 
mechanic  will  lay  up  his  wages  prudently ;  we  approve  of 
the  saving  of  clerk-hire  as  proper  economy.  Dr.  Scudder, 
who  can  make  eyes  and  ears  as  good  as  nature  can,  of  the 
kind,  intends  to  try  his  hand  upon  an  executive  machine, 
that  shall  copy  papers,  and  sign  bills,  and  receive  wages 
twelve  hours  a  day  without  stopping  for  dinner.'  .  .  .  We 
have  been  taught  to  look  upon  the  diligence  of  a  public 
officer  in  discharging  the  duties  committed  to  him,  as  far  as 
practicable,  in  person,  as  a  trait  distinguishing  the  republican 
from  the  aristocrat.  Washington  was  a  signal  example  of 
personal  attention  to  public  business.  So  was  Jefferson.  And 
the  latter  carried  the  matter  so  far  as  to  transcribe  with  his 
own  hand  all  his  messages  to  Congress,  as  well  those  trans- 
mitted to  the  two  Houses,  as  those  with  which  he  favored  the 
presses  that  supported  him.  As  Pennsylvanians  and  "Repub- 
licans we  feel  no  way  ashamed  to  see  Governor  Wolf  follow- 
ing such  illustrious  examples.  He  is  the  Governor  of  a  State, 
composed  of  a  plain,  painstaking  people,  and  could  pay  them 
no  greater  compliment,  nor  do  anything  more  to  his  own 
credit,  than  by  sedulously  attending  to  the  discharge  of  his 
public  duties.  The  New  Yorkers  do  not  appear  fully  to  ap- 
preciate the  value  of  a  maxim  stamped  upon  the  old  Con- 
tinental paper  money  —  'Mind  your  business  !" 

In  1832,  South  Carolir  a,  by  a  convention  of  its  people, 
passed  the  notorious  ordinance,  nullifying  certain  Acts  of 
Congress  imposing  duties  on  imports.  This  called  forth  the 
celebrated  Proclamation  of  President  Jackson,  a  document 
unsurpassed  in  argumentation  and  warm  appeal,  in  which 


360      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

he  expresses  his  determination  to  maintain  the  Union  by  all 
the  power  of  the  United  States.  The  subject  of  the  tar i ft' 
had  been  warmly  debated  in  Congress,  and  in  the  legislatures 
of  the  several  States.  In  the  latter  bodies  memorials  were 
adopted  expressive  of  their  views  upon  this  question,  which 
were  interchanged.  These  were  received  by  the  Legislature 
of  Pennsylvania  and  spread  upon  its  journals.  Those  from 
the  Northern  States  generally  defended  the  system,  and  those 
from  the  Southern  complained  of  its  injurious  effects.  Gov- 
ernor "Wolf,  and  the  party  in  power  in  Pennsylvania,  warmly 
approved  the  views  of  the  President. 

The  adherence  of  the  Governor  to  the  President  and  his 
party  was  not  a  blind  one.  Devotion  to  a  popular  leader 
could  not  so  far  blunt  his  sensibilities  as  to  cause  him  to  dis- 
regard the  claims  of  duty  and  of  sound  policy.  The  arbi- 
trary action  of  the  President  in  crushing  out  the  United 
States  Bank  did  not  meet  his  approval,  and  he  signed  the 
resolutions  of  the  Assembly,  instructing  the  Senators,  and 
urging  the  Representatives  in  Congress,  to  labor  for  the  re- 
newal of  its  charter.  At  the  succeeding  session,  though  some 
of  the  friends  of  the  bank  had  opposed  his  re-election,  on  the 
ground  that  he  did  not  champion  the  cause  of  the  opponents 
to  the  re-election  of  Jackson,  he  reiterated  his  views,  and 
urged  the  rechartering  of  the  bank. 

The  Governor  was  a  candidate  for  a  third  term ;  but  a 
division  having  arisen  in  the  party  by  which  he  had  been 
supported,  and  a  third  candidate  in  the  person  of  Henry  A. 
Muhlenberg  being  presented,  the  vote  was  divided,  and 
"Wolf  was  defeated.  In  the  following  year  he  was  appointed 
by  General  Jackson  to  one  of  the  most  responsible  positions 
in  the  government,  that  of  First  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury 
of  the  United  States.  For  two  years  he  discharged  the  duties 
of  this  office  most  acceptably,  and  at  the  end  of  that  period 
he  was  appointed  by  President  Van  Buren  Collector  of  .the 
Port  of  Philadelphia.  On  the  llth  of  March,  1840,  he  died 
very  suddenly,  while  yet  in  the  vigor  of  manhood  greatly 
lamented,  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age. 


JOSEPH  RITNER, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1790. 

December  15,  1835,  to  January  15,  1839. 

IF  to  Governor  Wolf  belongs  the  honor  of  having  inaugu- 
rated the  School  System,  to  Governor  Ritner  should  be 
accorded  the  credit  of  preserving  it  at  a  crisis  when  in  immi- 
nent danger  of  being  overthrown.  Graced  with  less  school 
education  than  any  other  Governor  who  ever  occupied  the 
chair  of  state,  he  yet  manifested  a  zeal  in  its  defence  unsur- 
passed by  any,  and  when  the  fair  fabric  won  by  his  predeces- 
sor with  great  labor  and  tribulation  was  rent  and  torn  by  ig- 
norance and  malice,  and  it  was  likely  to  be  given  up  to  utter 
destruction,  Ritner  bared  his  arm  for  the  conflict,  and  came 
forth  triumphant,  winning  laurels  which  shall  never  fade. 

Joseph  Ritner,  the  eighth  and  last  Governor  under  the* 
Constitution  of  1790,  was  born  in  Berks  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  the  25th  of  March,  1780.  His  father  was  John 
Ritner,  who  emigrated  from  Alsace,  on  the  Rhine.  During 
his  early  years  Joseph  was  employed  upon  his  father's  farm. 
The  only  school  advantage  which  he  ever  enjoyed- was  during 
a  period  of  six  months  in  a  primary  school  at  the  early  age 
of  six  years.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  removed  to  Cumber- 
land County,  and  was  employed  as  a  laborer  upon  the  farm  of 
Jacob  Myers,  near  Newville.  In  the  year  1800,  he  married 
Susan  Alter,  of  Cumberland  County.  Their  offspring  were 
six  sons  and  three  daughters.  Soon  after  their  marriage 
they  removed  to  Westmoreland  County,  and  finally  became 
settled  upon  a  farm  belonging  to  the  wife's  uncle,  David 
Alter,  in  Washington  County.  What  was  unusual  for  farmers 
of  that  day,  the  uncle  possessed  a  good  library.  The  books 

3d 


362    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF 1790. 

were  principally  German  works  of  a  substantial  character. 
Gifted  with  strong  native  sense,  and  a  wonderfully  retentive 
memory,  this  library  proved  to  him  a  mine  of  wealth.  Here, 
during  his  leisure  hours,  he  delved,  and  what  was  wanting  of 
privilege  in  school  instruction,  he,  by  diligence,  himself  sup- 
plied, affording  a  perpetual  example  to  the  young,  of  the 
fruits  of  industry  and  perseverance. 

In  1820  Mr.  Eitner  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  from  Washington  County,  and  served  in 
that  capacity  for  a  period  of  six  years.  In  1824  he  was 
elected  speaker  of  that  body,  and  was  re-elected  in  the  fol- 
lowing year.  In  1829  he  received  the  nomination  for  Gov- 
ernor in  opposition  to  George  Wolf.  It  was  a  period  of 
much  excitement  respecting  secret  societies,  and  great  anti- 
pathy was  exhibited  towards  them,  especially  the  Masonic 
fraternity.  So  strong  was  this  feeling  that  a  political  party 
was  built  upon  it,  known  as  the  Anti-Masonic,  and  by  this 
party  Ritner  was  supported.  He  received  a  handsome  vote, 
but  was  defeated.  In  1832  he  was  again  put  in  nomination, 
and  though  again  defeated,  made  a  great  gain  over  his  former 
vote.  He  was  for  a  third  time  nominated  in  1835,  and  was 
elected. 

At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1834,  the  law  for  the 
establishment  of  a  common-school  system  was  passed.  It 
met  little  opposition  in  either  branch  of  the  Legislature,  being 
enacted  with  a  unanimity  rarely  equalled  upon  any  important 
question.  So  much  had  been  said  upon  the  subject,  and  so 
thoroughly  had  the  'necessities  of  the  State  been  presented, 
that  a  readiness  for  its  adoption  seemed  to  be  felt.  But,  .un- 
fortunately, though  the  field  was  white  for  the  harvest,  the 
law  which  with  great  labor  and  care  had  been  prepared, 
proved  signally  unsuited  to  the  wants  of  the  State.  If  the 
thing  were  possible,  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  too  perfect. 
It  was  so  elaborately  drawn,  and  the  minutest  particulars 
were  so  carefully  provided  for,  that  little  discretion  was 
allowed  in  adapting  its  operation  to  the  wants  of  the  diver- 
sified po]  Nations  it  was  designed  to  affect.  It  was  like  the 


JOSEPH  RITNER.  363 

machinery  of  certain  inventors,  where  all  the  motive  power 
is  expended  in  overcoming  the  friction  of  the  parts.  The 
consequence  was  that  a  sudden  revulsion  of  feeling  was  ex- 
perienced, and  at  the  session  of  1835  the  sentiment  was 
almost  universal  against  it.  A  proposition  was  brought  for- 
ward in  the  Senate  for  its  abolition,  and  for  substituting  the 
system  of  1809  —  educating  the  poor  gratis,  —  which  was 
carried  with  little  opposition.  It  came  up  in  the  House,  and 
but  for  the  eloquent  appeals  of  Thaddeus  Stevens,  would 
have  been  carried  with  a  like  unanimity  there.  The  tide 
which  was  setting  seemed  likely  to  engulf  all.  "  Why,"  said 
Stevens,  "  shall  Pennsylvania,  now  repudiate  a  system  which 
is  calculated  to  elevate  he*r  to  that  rank  in  the  intellectual, 
which,  by  the  blessings  of  Providence,  she  holds  in  the  natu- 
ral world  ?  To  be  the  keystone  of  the  arch,  the  '  very  first 
among  her  equals.'  I  am  aware,  sir,  how  difficult  it  is  for 
the  great  mass  of  the  people,  who  have  never  seen  this  sys- 
tem in  operation,  to  understand  its  advantages.  But  is  it  not 
wise  to  let  it  go  into  full  operation  and  learn  its  results  from 
experience  ?  Then  if  it  proves  worthless  or  burdensome,  how 
easy  to  repeal  it.  ...  But  we  are  told  that  this  law  is  un- 
popular; that  the  people  desire  its  repeal.  Has  it  not  always 
been  so  with  every  reform  in  the  condition  of  man  ?  Old 
habits  and  old  prejudices  are  hard  to  be  removed  from  the 
mind.  Every  new  improvement  which  has  been  gradually 
leading  man  from  the  savage,  through  the  civilized,  up  to  the 
highly  cultivated  state,  has  required  the  most  strenuous,  and 
often  perilous,  exertions  of  the  wise  and  the  good.  But,  sir, 
much  of  its  unpopularity  is  chargeable  upon  the  vile  arts  of 
unprincipled  demagogues.  Instead  of  attempting  to  remove 
the  honest  misapprehensions  of  the  people,  they  cater  to  their 
prejudices,  and  take  advantage  of  them  to  gain  low,  dirty,  tem- 
porary local  triumphs.  I  do  not  charge  this  on  any  particular 
party.  Unfortunately,  almost  the  only  spot  on  which  all  par- 
ties meet  in  union  is  this  ground  of  common  infamy.  I 
have  seen  the  present  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  Common- 
weauli  [Wolf]  violently  assailed  as  the  projector  and  father 


of  this  law.  I  am  not  the  eulogist  of  that  gentleman ;  he  has 
been  guilty  of  many  deep  political  sins ;  but  he  deserves  the 
undying  gratitude  of  the  people  for  the  steady,  untiring  zeal 
which  he  has  manifested  in  favor  of  common  schools.  I  will 
not  say  that  his  exertions  in  that  cause  have  covered  all,  but 
they  have  atoned  for  many  of  his  errors.  I  trust  that  the  peo- 
ple of  this  State  will  never  be  called  on  to  choose  between  a 
supporter  and  an  opposer  of  free  schools.  But,  if  it  should 
come  to  that;  if  that  should  be  made  the  turning-point  on 
which  we  are  to  cast  our  suffrages ;  if  the  opponent  of  edu- 
cation were  my  most  intimate  personal  and  political  friend, 
and  the  free-school  candidate  my  most  obnoxious  enemy,  I 
should  deem  it  my  duty  as  a  patriot,  at  this  moment  of  our 
intellectual  crisis,  to  forget  all  other  considerations,  and  I 
should  place  myself  unhesitatingly  and  cordially  in  the  ranks 
of  him  whose  banner  streams  in  light." 

Mr.  Stevens  was  wrought  up  to  a  great  pitch  of  excitement 
while  delivering  this  speech.  He  took  a  position  in  the 
broad  middle  aisle  leading  up  to  the  Speaker's  desk,  where 
he  had  full  freedom  for  action,  and  his  appearance  is  de- 
scribed by  one  who  was  then  a  member  of  that  body,  as  lit 
up  by  an  enthusiasm  almost  more  than  mortal.  He  was  the 
bitter  political  opponent  of  Governor  Wolf,  to  whom  he  al- 
ludes in  the  passage  quoted;  and  when,  after  passing  en- 
comiums upon  the  Governor's  advocacy  of  the  common- 
school  system,  that  startling  and  majestic  declaration  was 
made,  "  I  should  place  myself  unhesitatingly  in  the  ranks  of 
HIM  WHOSE  BANNER  STREAMS  IN  LIGHT,"  it  was  received  with 
the  wildest  expressions  of  delight.  The  magical  sentence 
was  caught  up  and  passed  current  upon  every  lip,  and  when- 
ever this  era  of  the  school  system  is  the  subject  of  conversa- 
tion among  those  who  were  present  on  that  occasion,  the 
words  "wlrose  banner  streams  in  light"  are  exultingly  re- 
called. 

The  vote  was  taken,  and  it  was  found  that  the  friends  of 
common  schools  were  largely  in  the  ascendant.  It  is  recorded 
by  John  W,  Forney,  in  an  elaborate  article  published  in  the 


JOSEPH  RITNER.  365 

Washington  Chronicle.,  upon  the  life  and  character  of  the  Great 
Commoner,  on  the  occasion  of  his  death,  that  "  Immediately 
after  Mr.  Stevens  concluded  this  great  effort,  he  received  a 
message  from  George  Wolf,  then  Democratic  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  a  leading  member  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity. Governor  Wolf  was  the  firm  friend  of  popular  educa- 
tion. Of  a  different  and  more  methodical  character,  he  did 
not  and  could  not  bring  to  the  movement  the  attributes  with 
which  God  had  clothed  Thaddeus  Stevens;  but  he  was  earnest 
and  sincere.  When  Mr.  Stevens,  in  response  to  his  invitation, 
entered  the  Executive  Chamber,  he  threw  his  arms  about  his 
neck,  and,  with  tearful  eyes  and  broken  voice,  thanked  him  for 
the  great  service  he  had  rendered  to  our  common  humanity." 

Fortunately  for  the  cause  of  education,  the  law  was  pre- 
served intact.  But  an  unwieldy  system,  which  in  its  opera- 
tions was  constant!}7  provoking  hostility,  even  among  the 
friends  of  common  schools,  was  still  in  force.  At  the  follow- 
ing session,  that  of  1836,  the  whole  subject  would  come  up 
for  action.  In  the  meantime  Governor  Ritner  had  succeeded 
to  the  gubernatorial  chair,  and  had  selected  for  Secretary  of 
the  Commonwealth,  Thomas  H.  Burrowes,  a  firm  friend  of 
education,  and  who,  as  its  special  advocate  in  after  years,  did 
signal  service  to  the  State.  With  his  countenance  and  aid, 
George  Smith,  M.  D.,  who,  as  chairman  of  the  joint  committee 
of  education  in  the  two  Houses,  had  been  intrusted  with  the 
subject,  drew  an  entirely  new  bill,  embodying  the  principles 
of  the  old  law,  but  divesting  it  of  objectionable  features.  In 
this  new  form  it  was  presented  at  the  session  of  1836,  and 
was  carried  triumphantly  through.  It  went  immediately  into 
effect  and  forms  the  basis  of  the  excellent  system  at  present 
in  operation  —  reaching  out  to  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
Commonwealth ;  taking  by  the  hand  the  child  of  wretched- 
ness and  poverty  equally  with  the  most  favored  and  pampered 
of  fortune's  easy-going  offspring,  and  leading  them  to  the  pure 
fountains  of  knowledge ;  and  noiselessly  and  unheralded 
scattering  open-handed  the  richest  of  earthly  blessings. 

During  the  heated  political  canvass  which  preceded  his 


366    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

election,  an  editor  who  allowed  his  zeal  to  get  the  better  of 
his  discretion,  knowing  that  he  had  a  class  of  readers  who 
would  be  delighted  with  the  sentiment,  published  a  statement 
that  Mr.  Ritner  was  opposed  to  the  whole  catalogue  of  laws 
for  common  schools,  thinking  thereby  to  gain  votes  for  him. 
The  moment  it  came  to  the  ears  of  Ritner,  he  started  at  once 
to  find  the  reckless  editor,  and  after  a  wearisome  journey 
came  upon  him  amid  the  agents  of  his  art,  soundly  berated 
him  for  his  duplicity,  and  would  not  leave  him  until  he  had 
penned  an  article  denying  the  false  statement  he  had  made, 
and  had  promised  to  insert  it  in  the  next  issue  of  his  paper. 
It  was  not  in  the  nature  of  Joseph  Ritner  to  allow  victory 
to  be  purchased  at  the  sacrifice  of  truth,  even  by  the  swerving 
of  a  hair's  breadth. 

Down  to  the  close  of  his  life  he  manifested  a  lively  interest 
in  the  success  of  the  common  -  school  system,  attending 
Teachers'  Institutes  in  the  County  where  he  lived,  and  acting 
as  presiding  officer  when  upon  the  verge  of  eighty.  In  1861, 
the  Normal  School  at  Edinboro',  Erie  County,  was  recognized 
and  adopted  by  the  State.  Dr.  Burrowes,  who  was  then  Su- 
perintendent, appointed  his  old  friend  and  associate  of  a  pre- 
ceding generation,  as  one  of  the  inspectors.  Though  then  at 
the  age  of  eighty-three  he  accepted  the  appointment,  and 
made  that  long  journey  of  more  than  five  hundred  miles  by 
rail  and  stage,  with  the  alacrity  and  pleasure  of  a  boy  of  six- 
teen. And  when  he  appeared  upon  the  platform  of  the  great 
hall  of  the  Institute,  in  the  presence  of  a  concourse  of  up- 
turned faces,  it  could  but  excite  tears  of  gratitude,  that  his 
life  had  been  almost  miraculously  lengthened  out  to  see  the 
day  when  a  great  institution  devoted  to  the  preparation  of  com- 
mon-school teachers,  a  crowning  feature  of  that  system, 
should  be  inaugurated  upon  a  spot  which  was  an  unbroken 
wilderness  when  the  law  was  originally  passed  in  his  admin- 
istration. The  following  report  of  his  remarks  on  that  occa- 
sion is  given  in  the  Pennsylvania  School  Journal  of  that 
date:  "  Having  referred  briefly  to  his  own  course  in  relation 
to  the  cause  of  education,  while  Governor  of  the  Common- 


JOSEPH  RITNER.  367 

wealth,  he  spoke  somewhat  at  length  as  to  his  friend,  the 
present  Superintendent.  The  present  generation  could  not 
appreciate  what  had  been  done  ;  nor  indeed,  could  the  com- 
plete result  be  revealed  in  one  or  two  generations.  He  him- 
self had  seen  the  inauguration  of  the  system  of  free  common 
schools,  and  had  witnessed  some  of  its  fruits ;  but  he  could 
not  hope  to  live  to  behold  the  riph  harvests  which  he  had 
faith  to  believe  were  yet  to  be  reaped  from  it.  He  com- 
mended the  location  of  the  buildings,  —  and  of  the  grounds 
so  beautifully  adapted,  both  for  ornamental  and  useful  culti- 
vation. He  could  well  credit  Mr.  Taylor's  statement,  that  this 
was  a  few  years  ago  a  Avilderness,  for  we  could  still  seo  the 
stumps  on  every  side.  A  very  few  years  would  see  this  the 
most  attractive  spot  in  Western  Pennsylvania." 

Governor  Ritner  always  regarded  his  connection  with  the 
school  system  with  singular  satisfaction,  and  viewed  the 
consummation  of  its  adoption  as  the  crowning  glory  of  his 
administration.  Even  the  progress  which  was  made  during 
the  three  years  in  which  he  occupied  the  chair  of  state  was  a 
subject  of  congratulation,  which  he  thus  presents  in  his  last 
Annual  Message  to  the  Legislature :  "  The  condition  of  the 
means  provided  by  the  State  for  general  education  is  so 
flourishing,  that  little  is  required  to  be  done  by  the  present 
Legislature.  Within  three  years  the  permanent  State  appro- 
priation to  this  object  has  been  increased  from  $75,000  an- 
nually to  $400,000.  Nor  will  this  large  outlay  have  been 
without  its  fruits.  Instead  of  seven  hundred  and  sixty-two 
common  schools  in  operation  at  the  end  of  the  year  1835, 
and  about  seventeen  academies  (the  latter  in  a  state  of  almost 
doubtful  existence),  with  no  female  seminaries  fostered  by 
the  State,  she  has  now  five  thousand  common  schools,  thirty- 
eight  academies,  and  seven  female  seminaries  in  active  and 
permanent  operation,  disseminating  the  principles  of  litera- 
ture, science,  and  virtue  over  the  land.  In  addition  to  these, 
there  are  many  schools,  academies,  and  female  seminaries  of 
a  private  character,  equally  useful  and  deserving  in  their 
proper  sphore." 


368      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

Secretary  Burrowes,  ex-offido  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  in  his  report  to  the  Legislature  at  the  same  time 
that  this  message  was  delivered,  pays  the  following  just 
tributes :  "  The  undersigned  cannot  close  this  report  without 
bearing  testimony  to  one  fact  alike  honorable  to  the  State 
and  advantageous  to  the  system.  In  his  whole  experience 
the  blighting  touch  of  party  politics  has  never  been  detected 
upon  it.  All  seem  to  forget  their  every-day  differences,  and 
to  meet  unitedly  on  this,  as  on  a  Sabbath  ground  of  devotion 
to  the  public  good.  In  no  station  of  life  has  this  right  feeling 
oeen  more  obvious  than  among  those  in  power.  When  the 
L-gitating  divisions  of-Jthe  day  shall  have  sunk  into  com- 
parative insignificance,  and  names  be  only  repeated  in  con- 
nection with  some  great  act  of  public  benefaction,  those  of 
GEORGE  WOLF  and  JOSEPH  RITNER  will  be  classed  by  Penn- 
sylvania among  the  noblest  on  her  long  list ;  the  one  for  his 
early  and  manly  advocacy,  and  the  other  for  his  well-timed 
and  determined  support  of  the  FREE  SCHOOL." 

In  the  expression  of  his  opinions  in  his  messages  upon 
national  affairs,  Governor  Bitner  was  bold  and  outspoken, 
however  unpalatable  they  might  be  to  those  whom  he  meant 
to  reach.  Upon  the  subject  of  slavery  in  any  part  of  the 
National  domain  he  uttered  his  condemnation  in  such  clear 
and  ringing  tones  that  it  arrested  the  attention  of  the  philan- 
thropist and  the  lover  of  freedom  wherever  it  was  read.  His 
message  of  1836  called  forth  from  the  Quaker  poet  Whittier 
the  following  spirit-stirring  lyric  : 

Thank  God  for  the  token  !  —  one  lip  is  still  free,  — 
One  spirit  untrammelled,  —  unbending  one  knee! 
Like  the  oak  of  the  mountain,  deep-rooted  and  firm, 
Erect,  when  the  multitude  bends  to  the  storm  ; 
When  traitors  to  Freedom,  and  Honor,  and  God, 
Are  bowed  at  an  Idol  polluted  with  blood ; 
When  the  recreant  North  has  forgotten  her  trust 
And  the  lip  of  her  honor  is  low  in  the  dust,  — 
Thank  God,  that  one  arm  from  the  shackle  has  broken  i 
Thank  God,  that  one  man  as  &  freeman  has  spoken  1 


JOSEPH  RITNER.  369 

O'er  thy  crags,  Alleghany,  a  blast  has  heen  blown  I 
Down  thy  tide,  Susquehanna,  the  murmur  has  gone ! 
To  the  land  of  the  South,  — of  the  charter  and  chain,  — 
Of  Liberty  sweetened  with  slavery's  pain ; 
Where  the  cant  of  Democracy  dwells  on  the  lips 
Of  the  forgers  of  fetters,  and  wielders  of  whips ! 
Where  "chivalric"  honor  means  really  no  more 
Than  scourging  of  women  and  robbing  the  poor  I 
Where  the  Moloch  of  Slavery  sitteth  on  high, 
And  the  words  which  he  utters,  are  —  WORSHIP,  OR  DM 

Right  onward,  oh,  speed  it  I    Wherever  the  blood 

Of  the  wronged  and  the  guiltless  is  crying  to  God ; 

Wherever  a  slave  in  his  fetters  is  pining ; 

Wherever  the  lash  of  the  driver  is  twining  ; 

Wherever  from  kindred,  torn  rudely  apart, 

Comes  the  sorrowful  wail  of  the  broken  of  heart; 

Wherever  the  shackles  of  tyranny  bind, 

In  silence  and  darkness  the  God-given  mind ; 

There,  God  speed  it  onward !  —  its  truth  will  be  felt,  — 

The  bonds  shall  be  loosened,  —  the  iron  shall  melt  I 

And  oh,  will  the  land  where  the  free  soul  of  PENH 
Still  lingers  and  breathes  over  mountain  and  glen,  — 
Will  the  land  where  a  BENEZET'S  spirit  went  forth 
To  the  peeled,  and  the  meted  and  outcast  of  Earth, — 
Where  the  words  of  the  Charter  of  Liberty  first 
From  the  soul  of  the  sage  and  the  patriot  burst, — 
Where  first  for  the  wronged  and  the  weak  of  their  kind 
The  Christian  and  statesman  their  efforts  combined, — 
Will  that  land  of  the  free  and  the  good  wear  a  chain  ? 
Will  the  call  to  the  rescue  of  Freedom  be  vain  ? 

No,  RITNER  !  —  her  "  Friends  "  at  thy  warning  shall  stand 

Erect  for  the  truth,  like  their  ancestral  band ; 

Forgetting  the  feuds  and  the  strife  of  past  time, 

Counting  coldness  injustice,  and  silence  a  crime ;  t 

Turning  back  from  the  cavils  of  creeds,  to  unite 

Once  again  for  the  poor  in  defence  of  the  right ; 

Breasting  calmly,  but  firmly,  the  full  tide  of  wrong, 

Overwhelmed  but  not  borne  on  its  surges  along ; 

Unappalled  by  the  danger,  the  shame,  and  the  pain, 

And  counting  each  trial  for  truth  as  their  gain  I 

And  that  bold-hearted  yeomanry,  honest  and  true^ 
Who,  haters  of  fraud,  give  to  labor  its  due  ; 
24 


370      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

Whose  fathers  of  old,  sang  in  concert  with  thine, 
On  the  banks  of  Swatara,  the  songs  of  the  Khine, — 
The  German-born  pilgrims,  who  first  dared  to  brave 
The  scorn  of  the  proud  in  the  cause  of  the  slave :  — 
Will  the  sons  of  such  men  yield  the  lords  of  the  South 
One  brow  for  the  brand,  —  for  the  padlock  one  mouth  ? 
They  cater  to  tyrants  ?  —  They  rivet  the  chain, 
Which  their  fathers  smote  off,  on  the  negro  again  ? 

No,  never  I — one  voice,  like  the  sound  in  the  cloud, 
When  the  roar  of  the  storm  waxes  loud  and  more  loud, 
Wherever  the  foot  of  the  freeman  hath  pressed 
From  the  Delaware's  marge,  to  the  Lake  of  the  West, 
On  the  South-going  breezes  shall  deepen  and  grow, 
Till  the  land  it  sweeps  over  shall  tremble  below  1 
The  voice  of  a  PEOPLE,  —  uprisen,  —  awake,  — 
Pennsylvania's  watchword,  with  Freedom  at  stake, 
Thrilling  up  from  each  valley,  flung  down  from  each  height, 
"OuR  COUNTRY  AND  LIBERTY  !  —  GOD  FOR  THE  RIGHT  ! " 

Governor  Bitner  received  the  nomination  in  1838,  for 
re-election  by  the  Anti-Masonic  party;  but  was  defeated  by 
only  about  five  thousand  votes.  The  canvass  was  unusually 
spirited,  and  the  election  was  contested  with  a  resolution 
rarely  witnessed.  The  Masons  as  an  organization  were  of 
course  pitted  against-  Ritner,  for  he  was  leading  a  party  bent 
on  their  humiliation.  He  was  opposed  by  the  Democrats,  for 
they  had  been  kept  for  a  period  of  three  years  from  power, 
and  they  were  eager  again  to  possess  it.  There  was  also  an 
opposition  to  him  from  outside  the  State  which  made  itself 
felt.  Whether  it  originated  from  his  outspoken  opposition  to 
slavery  whidi  the  poem  of  Whittier  had  heralded  to  the 
worl^,  it  is  not  necessary  now  to  inquire.  Certain  it  was  that 
the  fight  against  him  was  well  organized,  conducted  with  a 
strong  hand,  and  was  successful. 

The  oflicial  returns  made  to  the  Secretary's  oifice,  gave  the 
State  to  Porter.  It  was  charged  by  the  friends  of  Ritner 
that  there  was  fraudulent  voting  and  fraudulent  returns. 
Thomas  H.  Burrowes,  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  was  also 
Chairman  of  the  State  Executive  Committee  of  the  Anti- 
Masonic  party,  issued  an  address  in  behalf  of  the  Committee 


JOSEPH  RITNER.  371 

to  the  friends  of  the  defeated  candidate,  in  whku  he  said : 
"  The  opponent  of  our  candidate  for  the  office  of  Governor 
appears  to  be  elected  by  at  least  five  thousand  majority. 
This  is  an  event  to  which,  if  it  had  been  fairly  produced,  we, 
as  good  citizens,  would  quietly,  if  not  cheerfully  submit. 
But  there  is  such  a  strong  probability  of  malpractice  and 
fraud  in  the  whole  transaction,  that  it  is  our  duty  peacefully 
to  resist  it  and  fully  to  expose  it"  After  making  a  full  state- 
ment of  the  reasons  which  led  to  the  belief  that  fraud  had 
been  largely  practised,  he  concludes :  "  Can  there  be  any 
safety  under  republican  institutions  if  such  high-handed  op- 
pression be  tolerated  ?  No !  We  owe  it  to  ourselves  as  free- 
men and  good  citizens  to  examine  into  this  matter,  and  if 
fraud  be  detected  to  expose  and  resist  it.  We  owe  it  .to  our 
country  and  to  posterity.  .  .  .  Now  is  the  time  to  make  the 
examination,  while  the  facts  are  fresh  and  the  outrage  recent.' 
Let  it  be  done  then  peacefully,  determinedly  and  thoroughly. 
But  let  it  be  commenced  with  an  honest  resolution  to  submit 
to  the  result,  whether  it  be  favorable  or  unfavorable  to,  our 
wishes.  This  is  the  duty  of  all  who  contend  for  equal  rights 
and  the  supremacy  of  the  laws.  But,  fellow-citizens,  until 
this  investigation  be  fully  made  and  fairly  determined,  let  us 
treat  the  election  of  the  9th  inst.  as  if  we  had  not  been  de- 
feated, and  in  that  attitude  abide  the  result." 

This  exceedingly  well  written  address  seemed  in  the  main 
to  be  very  fair  and  just ;  but  the  startling  declaration  con- 
tained in  the  concluding  sentence  created  intense  excitement 
in  the  ranks  of  the  opposing  party,  and  to  "treat  the  election 
as  if  we  had  not  been  defeated"  became  their  rallying  cry. 
It  was  a  direct  proclamation  that  the  returns  were  not  to  be 
accepted  until  an  investigation  should  prove  them  valid.  The 
address  was  ill-advised  and  ill-timed.  For  the  executive 
committee  of  a  party  had  no  legal  authority  to  make  an  in- 
vestigation ;  and  if  an  investigation  was  to  have  been  made, 
no  declaration  of  the  fact  should  have  been  uttered  until  the 
constituted  authorities  were  ready  to  proceed  with  it.  The 
returns  bore  on  their  face  the  evidence  of  regularity,  and 


372    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

those  returns  should  have  been  accepted  as-  veracious  until 
proven  false  at  a  competent  tribunal.  It  was  perceived  that 
on  the  political  complexion  of  the  Legislature  would  hang  the 
question  of  investigation,  and  to  secure  the  control  of  the  two 
Houses  was  a  primary  object  with  both  parties. 

A  majority  of  the  Senate  had  been  elected  as  anti-Masonic, 
but  the  control  of  the  House  depended  upon  the  votes  of  cer- 
tain members  from  Philadelphia,  whose  seats  were  contested. 
It  appears  that  when  the  return-judges  from  Philadelphia 
County  met,  it  was  proposed  to  throw  out  the  votes  of  the 
Northern  Liberties  entirely  on  account  of  alleged  frauds.  If 
these  were  counted  the  anti-Masonic  delegation  to  Congress, 
and  to  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  would  be  elected. 
If  they  were  rejected,  the  Democratic  delegation  would  be 
elected.  The  majority  of  the  return-judges  were  Democrats 
and  the  votes  of  that  precinct  were  thrown  out.  Whereupon 
the  anti-Masonic  members  of  the  Board  withdrew,  and  both 
parties  made  out  returns,  each  for  a  different  delegation,  and 
sent  them  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth.  Techni- 
cally, the  returns  of  the  Democrats  were  correct,  and  should 
have  been  received  in  the  first  instance  without  question. 

When  the  Legislature  met  in  December,  the  Senate 
promptly  organized  by  the  choice  of  anti-Masonic  officers. 
But  in  the  House  a  fierce  struggle  ensued,  both  delegations 
from  Philadelphia  claiming  seats.  The  consequence  was,  that 
each  party  went  into  an  election  for  speaker,  each  appointing 
tellers.  Two  speakers  were  elected  and  took  their  seats  upon 
the  platform ;  Thomas  S.  Cunningham  being  the  choice  of  the 
anti-Masons,  and  William  Hopkins  of  the  Democrats.  Techni- 
cally, the  Democrats  supposed  they  were  in  the  right,  leaving 
out  of  view  the  rightfulness  or  wrongfulness  of  rejecting 
the  votes  of  the  Northern  Liberties.  But  when  the  returns 
from  the  Secretary's  office  were  opened,  it  was  found  that  the 
certificate  of  the  minority  of  the  election  Board  from  Phila- 
dslphia  had  been  sent  in,  thus  giving  the  advantage  of 
technical  right  to  the  anti-Masonic  party.  It  was  a  question 
now,  which  of  these  two  Houses  would  be  recognized  by  the 
Senate  and  the  Governor. 


JOSEPH  RITNER.  373 

At  this  stage  of  the  contest  a  new  element  came  into  the 
arena.  A  daring  lobby,  collected  from  Philadelphia  and 
neighboring  cities,  appeared  in  the  capitol,  and  when  the 
Senate,  after  duly  organizing,  attempted  to  proceed  to  busi- 
ness, interrupted  the  course  of  legislation  and  threatened  the 
lives  of  its  members.  Proceedings  in  the  other  branch  of 
the  Legislature  were  in  like  manner  disturbed,  and  finally, 
both  houses  being  compelled  to  disperse  by  this  lawless  de- 
monstration, the  crowd  took  possession  of  the  chambers,  the 
leaders  indulging  in  noisy  harangues.  From  the  capitol,  the 
lobby  proceeded  to  the  Court-House,  where  impassioned 
speeches  were  made  and  a  "  Committee  of  Safety "  was  ap- 
pointed. So  determined  a  front  did  this  body  present  that 
for  several  days  the  Senate  was  prevented  from  meeting,  and 
when  one  of  the  parties  of  the  House  attempted  to  assemble, 
the  person  who  had  been  deputed  to  act  as  speaker  was  vio- 
lently ejected  from  the  hall.  All  business  was  at  an  end,  and 
the  Executive  and  State  Departments  were  closed. 

Seeing  no  other  alternative,  and  as  was  his  plain  duty  to  do, 
Governor  Ritner  promptly  ordered  out  the  militia ;  and  lest  this 
should  be  insufficient,  —  for  the  lobby  was  constantly  receiv- 
ing accessions  of  strength,  —  he  called  on  the  United  States 
authorities  for  help.  The  militia  under  Major-Generals  Pat- 
terson and  Alexander  came  promptly  in  response ;  but  the 
United  States  authorities  refused  to  send  troops,  though  the 
storekeeper  at  the  Frankford  arsenal  in  Philadelphia  turned 
over  an  ample  supply  of  fixed  ammunition  for  all  arms,  and 
an  especially  liberal  supply  of  ball  and  BUCKSHOT  cartridges, 
though,  as  it  subsequently  appeared,  the  ammunition  was  de- 
livered without  orders  from  the  War  Department.  Seeing 
troops  arrive  at  the  call  of  the  Governor,  the  lobby  made 
preparations  to  resist  them,  and  were  by  their  leaders  drilled 
in  military  evolutions.  By  the  efforts  of  the  militia  authori- 
ties, order  was,  however,  restored,  and  the  two  Houses  of  the 
Legislature  were  again  permitted  to  meet.  A  majority  of  the 
Senate  finally  voted  to  recognize  the  section  of  the  House 
presided  over  by  Mr.  Hopkins,  which  virtually  ended  the  con- 


374    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1790. 

test,  the  other  hranch  of  the  House  returning  to  their  places, 
and  the  Governor  elect  being  inaugurated  at  the  proper  time 
without  opposition. 

For  several  days  during  this  contest  the  danger  of  a  colli- 
sion was  imminent,  and  it  seemed  impossible  to  avert  blood- 
shed. Great  interest  was  felt  in  the  result  of  the  struggle 
throughout  the  entire  Union,  and  especially  by  the  national 
administration.  It  was  even  viewed  with  serious  apprehen- 
sions in  Europe.  Lewis  Cass,  who  was  at  the  time  Minister 
to  France,  relates  a  conversation  which  he  had  with  Louis 
Philippe,  in  which  that  monarch,  mindful  of  similar  compli- 
cations in  Paris,  expressed  the  belief  that  Pennsylvania  would 
become  the  scene  of  a  protracted  and  bloody  partisan  or  revo- 
lutionary conflict.  Fortunately,  wiser  counsels  prevailed,  and 
what  seemed  on  the  point  of  being  left  to  the  arbitrament  of 
the  sword,  was  finally  settled  by  an  appeal  to  reason. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  Governor  Ritner 
returned  to  private  life,  taking  up  his  residence  near  Mount 
Rock,  in  the  County  of  Cumberland.  Possessed  of  a  strong 
constitution  and  a  powerful  frame,  he  rarely  complained  of 
sickness,  his  system  seeming  to  be  proof  against  the  ordinary 
inroads  of  disease.  In  1840,  however,  he  was  attacked  by 
cataract  in  both  eyes,  from  the  effect  of  which  he  was  for 
some  time  entirely  blind.  By  an  operation  performed  upon 
the  right  eye,  sight  was  completely  restored  so  that  he  was 
able  to  read  with  ease  the  finest  print.  So  painful  was  the 
operation  that  no  consideration  could  induce  him  to  submit 
to  one  upon  the  left,  and  that  remained  sightless  to  the  day 
of  his  death. 

He  continued  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  politics,  and  rarely 
failed  to  deposit  his  vote  in  the  ballot-box  in  every  important 
election.  In  1848,  he  was  nominated  by  President  Taylor, 
Director  of  the  Mint  at  Philadelphia,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  for  a  short  time ;  but  before  his  nomination  was  acted 
on  by  the  Senate,  President  Taylor  died,  and  he  retired,  to 
make  room  for  the  favorites  of  President  Fillmore.  He  was 
a  delegate  from  Pennsylvania  to  the  National  Convention 


JOSEPH  RITNER.  375 

which  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  for  President,  and  to 
the  close  of  his  life  continued  an  active  and  ardent  Repub- 
lican. 

Governor  Ritner  was  endowed  with  a  mind  of  great  native 
strength.  The  faculty  of  memory  was  almost  miraculous,  for 
he  seemed  never  to  forget  a  name,  an  event,  a  date,  or  a  fact. 
The  impressions  of  his  early  and  active  life  were  retained 
with  remarkable  clearness,  and  he  could  recall  occurrences  in 
his  official  life,  and  repeat  debates  with  surprising  accuracy. 
He  was  remarkably  temperate  in  all  his  habits,  never  using 
in  any  form  tobacco  or  spirituous  liquors.  He  was  a  man  of 
strong  convictions,  and  his  opinions  when  once  formed  were 
rarely  changed.  His  conscientiousness  naturally  inclined 
him  to  caution,  and  every  subject  requiring  his  decision  re- 
ceived mature  deliberation.  He  fortunately  lived  long 
enough  to  see  many  of  the  cardinal  principles  which  he  had 
advocated  become  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land,  a^id  time, 
which  "  at  last  sets  all  things  even,"  vindicated  the  soundness 
of  his  judgment.  He  died  on  the  16th  day  of  October,  1869, 
in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age.  His  life  was  prolonged  be- 
yond that  of  any  other  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  though 
associated  in  this  office  with  men  wonderfully  long-lived. 


PART  V. 

GOVERNORS  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 


877 


DAVID  RITTENHOUSE  PORTER, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1833. 

January  15,  1839,  to  January  21,  1845. 

DAVID  RITTENHOUSE  PORTER  was  born  near 
ristown,  Montgomery  County,  Pa.,  on  the  31st  of  October, 
1788.  His  grandfather,  Robert  Porter,  emigrated,  early  in 
the  last  century,  from  the  north  of  Ireland.  The  farm  where 
he  lived  is  situated  about  nine  miles  north-west  of  London- 
derry, near  the  sea-coast.  The  land,  together  with  several  ad- 
joining farms,  is  yet  owned,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  a 
century  and  a  half,  by  those  of  his  own  name  and  blood.  One 
of  their  number,  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Porter,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Sacred  Literature  in  the  College  at  Belfast,  has  at- 
tained a  high  position  as  a  preacher,  an  author,  and  a  man  of 
letters,  especially  in  the  Department  of  Oriental  Literature. 
Andrew  Porter,  the  father  of  David  R.,  was  born  at  tne 
homestead  in  Montgomery  County,  in  1743,  and  attained  dis- 
tinction as  a  Revolutionary  soldier.  In  boyhood  he  mani- 
fested much  fondness  for  mathematics,  and  early  attracted 
the  notice  of  that  profound  scholar  Dr.  David  Rittenhouse, 
under  whose  advice  he  opened  an  English  and  mathematical 
school  in  Philadelphia.  The  Institution  had  attained  a  wide- 
spread reputation  for  excellence  when  the  Revolutionary 
War  broke  out,  and  its  principal,  obedient  to  the  calls  of  pa- 
triotism, laid  aside  the  robes  of  the  master  for  the  garb  of  the 
soldier.  He  was  at  first  commissioned  a  Captain  of  Marines, 
but  at  his  own  request  was  soon  afterwards  transferred  to  the 
artillery.  He  subsequently  became  Colonel  of  the  Fourth 
Regiment  of  Artillery,  and  was  engaged  in  the  battles  of 
Trenton,  Princeton,  Brandy  wine,  and  Germantown.  At  Ger- 

379 


380    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  18B8. 

mantown  nearly  his  entire  command  was  cut  down  at  bis 
side.  He  received  on  the  field  the  thanks  of  Washington  for 
his  soldierly  conduct  at  Princeton ;  and  when  Lafayette  was 
wounded  at  Brandywine,  Captain  Porter  was  near  him. 
At  the  special  request  of  Washington,  though  reluctant  to  be 
withdrawn  from  active  service,  he  was  sent  to  Philadelphia  to 
prepare  the  material  for  the  siege  of  Yorktown.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  war  he  was  offered  the  chair  of  Mathematics  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  but  declined  it,  humorously 
remarking  to  the  committee  who  called  on  him,  that,. having 
so  long  commanded  men,  he  could  not  go  back  to  flogging 
boys.  From  1784  to  1787,  he  was  engaged  by  app.  >intment 
of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  of  the  State,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Dr.  Rittenhouse,  Dr.  Ewing,  Mr.  Madison,  and 
others,  in  determining  the  lines  between  Pennsylvania  and 
the  States  of  Virginia,  Ohio,  and  New  York.  Some  of  the 
most  difficult  parts  of  this  useful  work  were  performed  by 
him.  In  1809,  he  was  appointed,  by  Governor  Snyder,  Sur- 
veyor-General, an  office  which  he  held  up  to  the  day  of  his 
death  in  1813,  having  in  the  meantime  declined  two  appoint- 
ments tendered  him  by  President  Madison,  that  of  Brigadier 
General  in  the  Army,  and  that  of  Secretary  of  War. 

Several  of  the  sons  of  Andrew  Porter  attained  to  emi- 
nence. Robert  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  practised 
law  in  Philadelphia,  and  became  President  Judge  of  the 
Berks,  Lehigh,  and  Northampton  District.  William  and 
Andrew,  twin-brothers,  became  reputable  merchants,  one  in 
Baltimore,  and  the  other  in  New  Orleans.  John  E.  was  a 
brilliant  advocate,  but  resigned  the  law  for  medicine,  which 
he  practised  with  much  success  in  North  Carolina.  George 

B.  was  a  graduate  of  the   Law   School   at  Litchfield,  and 
became  the  rival  of  James  Buchanan  and  Judge  Moulton 

C.  Rogers  at  the  Lancaster  Bar.     He   was  appointed  by 
General   Jackson   Governor  of  the   Territory  of  Michigan. 
James  M.  settled  at  Easton,  and  became  an  eminent  lawyer; 
was  a  member  of  the   Constitutional   Convention  of  1838, 
over  which  he  presided  during  a  part  of  its  sittings,  became 


DAVID  RITTENHOUSE  PORTER.  381 

President  Judge  of  the  Dauphin,  Lebanon,  and  Schuylkill 
District,  was  Secretary  of  War  under  President  Tyler,  and 
was  subsequently  elected  President  Judge  of  the  Wayne, 
Pike,  Monroe,  and  Carbon  District. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch,  David  E.,  received  his  early 
training  at  an  academy  in  ISTorristown,  where  the  branches  of 
a  good  English  education,  mathematics,  and  the  elementary 
classical  studies  were  successfully  taught.  With  his  brothers 
George  and  James,  he  was  here  pursuing  a  course  prepar- 
atory to  entering  Princeton  College,  when  the  buildings  of 
that  institution  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the  purpose  of  a 
collegiate  course  was  abandoned.  When  the  father  was 
appointed  Surveyor-General,  he  took  his  son  David  with  him 
to  the  seat  of  government  as  his  assistant.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  a  young  man  from  the  same  neighborhood, 
who  likewise  became  Governor  of  the  State,  Francis  R. 
Shunk.  While  thus  employed,  the  son  also  studied  law, 
with  the  intention  of  entering  upon  its  practice  at  Harris- 
burg  ;  but  the  labor  and  confinement  ,of  these  double  duties 
were  too  severe,  and  his  health  was  so  much  impaired,  as 
was  thought,  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  his  pursuing  any 
sedentary  employment.  He  decided,  therefore,  to  seek  more 
active  occupation,  and  removed  to  the  county  of  Huntingdon, 
where  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  iron. 

The  Messrs.  Dorsey  then  owned  that  magnificent  estate 
known  as  the  Barree  Forges,  which  yet  remains  in  possession 
of  their  descendants,  and  has  continued  for  nearly  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  to  be  the  seat  of  a  large  and  generous 
hospitality.  Mr.  Porter  was  first  employed  by  them  for  a 
year  as  a  clerk,  and  during  the  following  year  was  made 
manager  of  their  works.  Having  thus  acquired  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  business,  he  embarked  in  it  on  his  own  ac- 
count, in  partnership  with  Edward  Patton,  on  Spruce  Creek; 
but  so  great  was  the  depression  into  which  all  branches  of 
manufactures  fell  for  some  years  succeeding  the  war  of  1812, 
that  their  enterprise  was  not  successful.  He  continued,  how- 
ever, through  life  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  all  that  related  to 


382     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

the  business,  and,  at  the  period  of  his  death,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  any  man  in  the  State  so  thoroughly  and  practically 
understood  the  subject  of  ores,  the  location  of  their  deposit, 
the  mode  of  combining  them,  and  the  species  of  fuel  best 
adapted  to  reducing  them,  as  did  he. 

He  was,  in  1819,  elected  a  member  of  the  Assembly  from 
Huntingdon  County,  and  was  returned  for  the  following 
year,  having  as  a  colleague  John  Scott,  father  of  the  present 
Senator  of  the  United  States.  He  here  formed  the  acquaint- 
ance of  some  of  the  most  eminent  citizens  of  the  Common- 
wealth, many  of  whom  remained  his  warm  personal  friends 
through  life. 

On  retiring  from  the  Legislature,  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Governor  Prothonotary  and  Clerk  of  the  several  courts  of 
Huntingdon  County,  and  to  these  were  afterwards  added  the 
offices  of  Recorder  of  Deeds  and  Register  of  "Wills.  There 
was  then  little  business  in  these  offices,  and  the  pecuniary 
returns  were  meagre.  He  had  in  1820  married  Josephine, 
daughter  of  William  McDermott,  who  had  emigrated  from 
Scotland  for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing  steel  by  a  new 
process,  and  who  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  that  art.  Mrs. 
Porter  for  a  few  years  acted  as  her  husband's  clerk,  record- 
ing deeds  and  wills  at  home,  while  he  transacted  the  busi- 
ness in  public,  and  large  volumes  in  her  handwriting  con- 
tinue to  be  shown  to  strangers  and  visitors  to  the  town, 
written  so  clearly  and  beautifully,  and  with  such  perfect 
accuracy,  as  to  excite  admiration. 

During  his  residence  in  Huntingdon,  Mr.  Porter  devoted 
much  of  his  time  to  the  public  interests.  He  gave  some  attert- 
tion  to  agriculture,  and  distributed  among  the  farming  classes 
such  information  as  the  best  writers  furnished.  He  intro- 
duced among  his  neighbors,  without  profit  to  himself,  the  once 
famous  Durham  cattle.  From  New  York,  Virginia,  and 
Michigan,  he  brought  the  best  horses  which  those  States  pro- 
duced. His  chief  efforts,  however,  were  directed  to  the  pub- 
lic improvements  of  the  State.  Having  carefully  studied  the 
plans  which  Governor  Clinton  had  proposed  for  New  York, 


DAVID  RITTENHOUSE  PORTER.  383 

his  pen  was  often  employed  in  calling  the  attention  of  the 
people  to  the  importance  of  executing  similar  works  in 
Pennsylvania,  in  order  to  develop  and  carry  to  market  its 
vast  resources  and  preserve  its  relative  importance  in  the 
Union. 

In  1836  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  from 
the  district  then  composed  of  the  counties  of  Huntingdon, 
Mifflin,  Juniata,  Perry,  and  Union.  The  soundness  of  his 
judgment  and  the  readiness  of  his  understanding  made  him 
an  acknowledged  leader.  Few  subjects  were  broached  on 
which  he  did  not  either  report  or  speak.  Legislation  upon 
the  subject  of  the  public  works  bore  largely  the  impress  of 
his  views.  As  a  writer  he  was  concise,  forcible,  and  even  ele- 
gant, and  as  a  speaker,  he  was  clear,  pointed,  and  eminently 
practical.  His  speeches  were  usually  very  brief,  and  in  de- 
fence of  this  habit  he  was  accustomed  to  plead  the  practice 
of  Jefferson  and  Franklin.  His  advice  to  young  lawyers  and 
debaters  was  especially  to  study  brevity.  In  this  respect,  he 
differed  widely  from  his  brothers,  Governor  Porter  of  Michi- 
gan, and  Judge  Porter  of  Easton,  both  of  whom  were  more 
diffuse,  and,  it  must  be  added,  acquired  higher  reputations  for 
forensic  ability. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Porter  was  elected  Governor  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  in  1841  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  almost  four  times  as 
great  as  that  given  at  his  first  election.  His  inauguration  as 
Governor  occurred  on  the  15th  of  January,  1839.  The  open- 
ing paragraphs  of  his  inaugural  address  present  in  an  admi- 
rable manner  the  views  by  which  he  proposed  to  be  guided, 
and  the  changed  relations  that  the  Executive  was  made  to  hold 
by  the  new  Constitution  then  about  to  go  into  effect.  "  Deeply 
impressed,"  he  says,  "with  a  sense  of  gratitude  to  my  fellow- 
citizens,  for  the  distinguished  mark  of  confidence  reposed  in 
me,  I  enter  upon  the  arduous  and  responsible  duties  of  Gov- 
ernor of  Pennsylvania,  with  a  full  determination,  according 
to  the  abilities  given  me,  to  do  my  duty  faithfully. 

"  A  compliance  with  custom  would  seem  to  require  of  me, 
when  assuming  the  duties  of  the  Executive,  in  pursuance  of 


384    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

the  choice  of  the  people,  to  lay  before  them  some  of  the  lead- 
ing principles  upon  which  the  administration  of  the  Govern- 
ment will  be  conducted.  I  do  this  the  more  willingly,  be- 
cause, in  a  republic,  the  intercourse  between  the  people  and 
their  public  functionaries  should  be  candid,  frank,  and  unre- 
served. 

"  Educated  with  the  highest  veneration  and  greatest  affec- 
tion for  the  men  and  principles  of  the  American  Revolution, 
it  will  always  give  me  pleasure  to  refer  to  the  one  as  exam- 
ples, and  to  the  other  as  guides  in  the  performance  of  duty. 
Admitting  to  its  fullest  extent  the  importance  of  preserving 
unsullied  the  inestimable  and  inalienable  right  of  the  people 
to  govern  themselves,  I  shall  ever  give  my  best  efforts  to  pre- 
vent encroachments  upon  that  right.  So  long  as  man  con- 
tinues the  being  he  is,  error  must  be  expected  both  in  his 
individual  and  collective  conduct.  He  may  be  expected  to 
err  upon  sudden  impulses ;  but  an  intelligent  community  will 
rarely  fall  deliberately  into  error.  Hence  the  deliberate  ex- 
pression of  the  people's  will  should  always  furnish  the  rule 
of  conduct  to  those  who  represent  them  in  public  stations. 

"  A  new  era  has  arrived  in  our  Commonwealth.  Our  first 
Constitution,  formed  amidst  the  storms  and  troubles  of  the 
revolutionary  conflict,  was  found  in  practice  not  to  answer 
the  expectations  under  which  it  was  framed.  In  fourteen 
years  thereafter  it  was  entirely  new  modelled  by  the  Consti- 
tution of  1790,  an  instrument  framed  by  men  of  great  talents 
and  eminent  worth ;  but  the  plan  of  government  was  always 
considered  by  no  small  portion  of  he  people  as  not  suffi- 
ciently democratic  in  its  details.  After  repeated  attempts  to 
procure  revision,  a  majority  of  our  citizens  who  voted  on  the 
question,  in  1835,  decided  that  a  convention  should  be  called, 
to  revise,  alter  and  amend  the  Constitution  of  the  Common- 
wealth. In  pursuance  of  this  determination  of  the  people,  a 
convention  assembled,  and  after  a  long  and  arduous  session, 
closed  their  labors  on  the  22d  of  February  last,  and  the 
amendments  agreed  upon  by  that  body  have  been  ratified  and 
adopted  by  the  people.  It  is  under  this  amended  Constitu- 


.DAVID  RITTENHOUSE  PORTER.  385 

tion  that  it  has  been  my  lot  to  be  called  upon  to  administer 
the  duties  of  the  Executive.  This  instrument  gives  to  popu- 
lar suffrage  the  decision  of  many  appointments  heretofore 
vested  in  the  Executive,  and  changes  the  duration  of  the 
judicial  tenure  from  that  of  good  behavior  to  a  term  of 
years.  It  shortens  the  period  of  eligibility  to  the  Executive 
chair,  and  reduces  the  senatorial  term ;  enlarges  the  right  of 
suffrage,  and  changes  other  provisions,  all  of  which  are  impor- 
tant in  the  conduct  of  the  government  of  the  State.  Approv- 
ing as  I  did  of  the  amendments  in  the  aggregate,  and  having 
sanctioned  them  by  my  vote  at  the  late  election,  it  will  afford 
me  great  pleasure  to  assist  in  carrying  them  out  in  practice 
by  a  strict  adherence  to  their  principles." 

The  subject  of  State  interest,  which  at  this  period  over- 
shadowed every  other,  was  the  prosecution  of  the  public 
works.  Vast  sums  had  been  expended,  and  strong  anxiety 
was  felt  to  have  the  main  lines  completed  at  the  earliest  prac- 
ticable moment.  A  considerable  part  of  his  first  Annual 
Message  to  the  Legislature  was  devoted  to  this  subject.  The 
concluding  sentiments  of  that  paper,  considering  the  period  at 
which  they  were  written,  are  remarkable,  and  illustrate  the 
comprehensiveness  of  his  views.  "  I  cannot,"  he  says,  "  close 
this  brief  reference  to  our  system  of  public  improvements 
without  inviting  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  to  two  sub- 
jects, which,  though  not  immediately  connected  with  the 
leading  object  of  this  communication,  are  yet  so  essentially 
necessary  to  the  full  fruition  of  the  benefits  to  be  derived 
from  our  main  lines  of  canals  and  railroads  between  the 
eastern  and  western  sections  of  the  Commonwealth,  as  to 
awaken  the  earnest  solicitude  of  every  true  Pennsylvanian. 
I  allude  to  the  removal  of  the  obstructions  to  steamboat 
navigation  in  the  Alleghany,  Ohio,  and  Mississippi  rivers 
from  Pittsburg  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  Pittsburg 
up  the  Alleghany  as  far  as  the  same  may  be  found  practicable 
by  the  survey  authorized  under  direction  of  the  general 
Government,  and  to  the  construction  of  a  continuous  railroad  from 
the  city  of  Pittsburg  through  or  near  the  capitals  of  Ohio,  Indiana* 

25 


386     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

and  Illinois  to  some  point  on  the  Mississippi  River  at  or  near  St. 
Louis." 

The  sentiment  of  the  words  in  italics  was  made,  at  the  time 
of  its  delivery,  the  subject  of  wide-spread  comment  and  no 
little  ridicule ;  but  the  writer  of  it  lived  long  enough  to  be 
able  to  travel  in  a  railroad-car,  without  change,  from  the  sea- 
board to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  messages  and  other  public  documents  of  Governor 
Porter  were  generally  written  by  an  amanuensis.  His  habit 
was  to  pronounce  the  words  aloud,  slowly  and  deliberately, 
as  he  paced  his  apartment,  and  when  thus  taken  down,  they 
were  ready  for  the  press  with  scarcely  a  correction. 

One  of  his  apprehensions  in  regard  to  the  working  of  our 
State  Constitution  arose  from  the  frequent  encroachments 
made  by  the  Legislative  power  on  the  other  branches  of  the 
Government.  The  Judiciary  has  frequently  experienced  this 
in  Acts  of  Assembly  'granting  new  trials,  or  giving  a  con- 
struction to  written  documents,  or  changing  the  effect  of  liens 
of  record;  and  there  are  few  better  specimens  of  judicial 
writing  than  that  in  which  it  was  rebuked  in  the  case  of  De 
Chastellux  vs.  Fairchild.*  Governor  Porter  resisted  with  a, 
firm  hand  the  encroachments  made  on  his  own  prerogatives, 
and  the  reader  will  not  go  far  for  evidence  of  this  in  turning 
over  the  pages  of  any  of  the  Legislative  journals  from  1839 
to  1845.  As  an  example,  the  following  reply  to  the  Senate, 
which  had  made  an  inquiry  into  his  motives  for  certain 
official  conduct,  may  be  adduced : 

"  In  reply  to  your  resolution  of  the  6th  instant,  I  have  to 
inform  the  Senate,  that,  in  compliance  with  the  '  resolution 
to  suspend  the  work  on  the  Gettysburg  Railroad,'  prompt 
measures  were  taken  to  ascertain  'the  whole  amount  of 
claims  on  the  line,  on  estimates,  or  for  retained  percentage ; 
also  for  salaries  of  officers  and  agents,  for  labor,  or  for  any 
other  purpose ; '  and  that  during  the  present  week  the 
reports  of  the  officers  charged  with  that  duty  have  been 
received, 

*  3  Harris's  Reports,  page  18. 


DAVID  RITTENHOUSE  PORTER.  387 

"These  are  all  the  material  facts  touching  the  subject  of 
your  inquiry,  which  it  is  within  the  power  of  the  Executive 
to  communicate  to  the  Senate.  They  fully  answer  the  call 
made  on  me  by  the  resolution,  unless  in  requiring  me  to 
state  *  why  the  delay  in  procuring  the  money  and  paying  the 
contractors  has  taken  place,'  the  Senate  intended  to  require 
me  to  communicate  the  reasons  or  motives  by  which  I  have 
been  governed  in  relation  to  this  business.  If  such  was  the 
design  of  the  Senate,  I  must  decline  to  comply  with  its 
requisition.  Being  an  independent  and  co-ordinate  branch 
of  the  Government,  I  do  not  recognize  its  right  to  make  such 
a  demand,  and  also  because  the  time  and  manner  of  adver- 
tising for,  and  procuring  loans  are  duties  belonging  ex- 
clusively to  the  Executive,  in  which  the  two  Houses  of  the 
Legislature  have  neither  responsibility  nor  share.  Claiming 
to  understand  and  respect  the  rights  of  the  Senate,  I  shall 
studiously  avoid  any  infringement  upon  them ;  and  claiming 
also  to  understand  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  Executive, 
under  the  Constitution,  I  shall  take  especial  care  that  they 
shall  not  be  invaded,  and  will  maintain  them  to  the  utmost  of 
my  abilities.  Independence  and  harmony  of  action  only  can 
be  preserved  by  strictly  observing  the  rights  of  all  depart- 
ments of  the  Government.  This  course  I  shall  pursue,  at  all 
times,  without  deviation." 

The  courage,  energy,  and  strong  will  thus  displayed  gave 
great  vigor  to  his  administration,  and  compelled  respect  even 
from  his  opponents.  In  his  appointment  of  judges,  then  one 
of  the  most  responsible  duties  of  the  Executive,  he  exhibited 
much  discrimination,  as  the  reader  will  discover,  who  reflects 
on  the  names  of  Burnside,  Rogers,  King,  Bell,  Lewis,  Thomp- 
son, Black,  Woodward,  Campbell,  Conyngham,  Parsons,  El- 
dred,  Church,  and  others, —  many  of  whom  were  little  known 
to  the  public  when  they  received  commissions  at  his  hands, 
and  some  of  whom  have  since  exerted  strong  influence  in  our 
national  affairs. 

Governor  Porter  took  much  interest  in  the  success  of  the 
system  of  Common  Schools,  then  in  its  infancy,  and  having 


388     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

appointed  Francis  R.  Shunk  superintendent,  devoted  with 
him  much  time  in  resolving  the  numerous  and  difficult  ques- 
tions which  then  came  up  from  the  County  officers  for  de- 
cision. 

His  efforts  to  sustain  the  credit  of  the  State  and  to  secure 
t,he  payment  of  interest  on  the  public  debt  drew  upon  him 
national  attention,  and  were  frequently  noticed  in  Europe, 
where  many  of  the  obligations  of  the  State  were  held.  By  his 
recommendation  the  Act  of  1840  was  passed,  requiring  the 
interest  on  the  State  debt  to  be  paid  in  specie  or  its  equiva- 
lent. One  of  his  last  acts,  as  Governor,  was  the  suppression 
of  the  riots  which  occurred-  in  Philadelphia  in  1844,  and  the 
courage  and  decision  displayed  on  his  taking  command  of 
the  military  in  person  were  generally  commended  and  long 
remembered  by  men  of  all  parties.  Both  branches  of  the  City 
Council,  then  opposed  to  his  administration,  honored  him 
with  an  expression  of  their  thanks,  and  a  resolution  unani- 
mously passed  by  those  bodies  was  presented  to  him  in  person, 
accompanied  with  an  address  by  the  Mayor  of  the  City. 

Having  completed,  in  1845,  the  longest  term  as  Governor 
allowed  by  the  new  Constitution,  he  retired  from  public  life, 
and  returned  to  his  favorite  pursuit  of  making  iron.  The 
adaptation  of  anthracite  coal  to  the  manufacture  of  this  metal 
was  then  almost  unknown,  and  having  given  much  reflection 
to  the  subject,  and  made  many  practical  experiments,  he 
erected  at  Harrisburg,  at  a  large  cost,  the  first  anthracite  fur- 
nace built  iu  that  portion  of  the  State.  The  experiment  was 
successful,  and  it  was  followed  by  numerous  others  in  various 
sections,  much  to  the  profit  of  their  owners  and  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  public  revenues.  He  took  pleasure  in  conducting 
the  affairs  of  this  establishment,  and  in  advancing  the  art,  by 
explaining  and  illustrating  to  visitors  the  improvements  which 
he  had  introduced. 

Few  men  ever  had  more  ardent  friends  or  returned  their 
friendship  with  more  cordial  warmth  than  did  David  R. 
Porter.  It  was  a  common  remark  that  he  had  never  turned 
his  back  on  a  friend  or  forgotten  him  in  a  difficulty.  "With 


DAVID  RITTENEOUSE  PORTER.  389 

those  whom  he  distrusted,  he  maintained  no  intercourse  what- 
ever, and  this  sometimes  obtained  for  him  the  character  of  a 
resentful  man ;  but  the  truth  was  far  otherwise,  for  no  man 
ever  possessed  a  more  forgiving  temper;  and  though  his  abhor- 
rence of  insincerity  frequently  tinged  his  manner  with  reserve 
and  coldness,  thousands  of  men  in  all  parts  of  the  State  had 
sounded  the  depths  of  his  large  and  generous  heart  and  know 
well  its  warm  attachments  and  generous  sympathies.  The 
greatest  errors  of  his  life  were  lending  pecuniary  credit  to 
those  who  had  been  unfortunate,  and  in  being  influenced  by 
the  tear  of  sorrow  to  pardon  some  offender  against  the  law, 
whom  other  men  would  have  sternly  punished. 

In  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  life,  his  manner  was  calm 
and  self-possessed,  and  his  words  were  notably  few;  but  his 
conversation  was  frequently  pervaded  by  a  quiet  humor  which 
made  it  attractive,  especially  to  the  young.  His  remarks 
were  so  pointed,  his  memory  so  clear,  and  his  information  so 
accurate  and  comprehensive,  as  to  make  his  conversation  es- 
pecially instructive  on  many  topics  least  treated  in  books : 
such  as  the  courses  of  streams  and  mountain  chains,  and  the 
nature  of  mineral  deposits;  the  progress  of  legislation,  the 
changes  of  political  parties,  and  the  characteristics  of  the  dif- 
ferent races  by  whom  the  country  was  settled.  Respecting 
the  history  of  the  constitutions,  both  State  and  National,  he 
was  profoundly  informed.  There  was  scarcely  a  clause  in  any 
of  those  instruments  which  he  had  not  thoroughly  investigated 
with  the  eye  both  of  a  lawyer  and  a  man  of  business.  For 
this  reason  he  was  much  consulted  on  important  State  legisla- 
tion even  after  his  retirement  to  private  life. 

He  was  for  many  years  the  friend  of  the  late  President 
Buchanan,  and  the  correspondence  which  they  maintained 
for  a  long  period  shows  how  frequently  that  statesman  con- 
sulted him  on  questions  of  national  interest,  and  how  greatly 
he  relied  upon  his  judgment. 

There  was  another  public  man  with  whom  his  intimacy  was 
even  closer,  —  Gen.  Sam.  Houston  of  Texas,  whose  career  as 
a  military  commander,  an  executive  officer,  and  effective  ors 


390      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

tor,  ie  yet  fresh  in  the  public  recollection.  It  appears  to  have 
commenced  on  the  election  of  General  Houston  to  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  have  grown  stronger  as  age  ad- 
vanced, until  death  cut  it  short.  On  going  to,  or  returning 
from  Washington,  the  General  frequently  spent  a  few  days 
with  his  friend  at  Harrishurg,  and  for  a  long  period  scarcely 
a  week  elapsed  without  a  letter  passing  between  them.  When 
Gen.  Houston  was  nominated  as  an  independent  candidate 
for  Governor  of  Texas,  Mr.  Porter  strongly  urged  him  to 
accept  the  nomination,  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the 
hands  of  the  Union  men  of  the  South,  and,  in  opposition  to 
the  belief  of  most  persons,  predicted  his  election.  The  pre- 
diction was  realized  and  the  aged  hero  stood  manfully  by  his 
patriotic  principles  as  a  friend  of  the  Union  until  overpowered 
by  a  rebel  legislature  and  driven  from  office.  On  his  election 
as  Governor,  Gen.  Houston  invited  Mr.  Porter  to  visit  him 
in  Texas,  that  he  might  have  the  advantage  of  the  practical 
knowledge  and  judgment  of  the  latter  respecting  the  most 
favorable  route  for  a  railroad  through  Texas  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  the  Texas  route  being  regarded  by  both  as  the  best  for 
the  great  national  thoroughfare.  The  invitation  was  ac- 
cepted, and  several  months  were  spent  determining  the  most 
feasible  direction  for  locating  it,  and  in  organizing  a  company 
for  its  construction.  These  efforts,  it  is  believed,  would  have 
been  successful  had  they  not  been  brought  to  a  sudden  ter- 
mination in  the  fall  of  1860,  by  the  secession  of  the  Southern 
States. 

Mr.  Porter  returned  to  his  home  in  Harrisburg,  and  con- 
tributed his  influence  to  sustain  the  Government  in  the  fierce 
conflict  which  had  commenced.  He  scouted  the  doctrine  of 
secession,  and  maintained,  as  he  had  long  done,  in  its  fullest 
extent,  the  maxim  of  Jackson,  "  The  Union  must  and  shall 
be  preserved/'  To  encourage  others,  he  shouldered  IT'S  mus- 
ket at  the  age  of  more  than  seventy  years,  and  with  the  young 
men  of  the  town  joined  in  military  drill.  He  rejoiced  greatly 
over  the  success  of  the  Union  arms,  and  was  much  gratified 
that  one  of  his  sons,  General  Horace  Porter,  had  borne  an 


DAVID  RITTENIIOUSE  PORTER.  391 

honorable  part  in  many  battles.  "When,  however,  the  course 
of  the  national  administration  failed  to  meet  his  approval,  he 
was  decided  in  expressing  his  condemnation,  and  in  main- 
taining that  the  South  must  be  brought  back  to  a  whole  Con- 
stitution and  not  to  a  broken  one  —  a  distinction  likely  to  be 
misunderstood,  in  a  time  of  popular  excitement,  but  to  the  dan- 
ger of  being  so  misunderstood  he  was  entirely  indifferent. 

During  the  winter  of  1867,  while  attending  at  night  a 
meeting  of  his  church,  he  contracted  a  severe  cold.  While 
others  regarded  the  attack  as  light,  he  believed  that  it 
would  prove  fatal,  and  began  to  prepare  for  the  approaching 
change.  During  the  succeeding  summer  he  was  able  to  walk 
out,  but  in  the  beginning  of  August  his  strength  declined. 
With  great  composure  and  even  cheerfulness,  he  arranged 
several  matters  of  business  and  conversed  calmly  of  his  ap- 
proaching end.  On  being  asked  how  he  felt  on  the  near  pros- 
pect of  death,  he  said:  "  I  have  obtained  perfect  peace.  I  am 
not  conscious  of  a  doubt  or  a  fear."  On  the  6th  of  August, 
surrounded  by  several  children  and  a  devoted  wife,  his  hands 
having  been  folded  on  his  breast,  he  thanked  those  about  him 
for  their  kindness  and  dutifulness,  and  composed  himself  as  if 
to  fall  asleep.  As  one  and  another  passage  of  Scripture  was 
repeated,  he  expressed  his  assent,  until  the  pulse  became  still, 
and  the  aged  heart  ceased  to  beat.  He  had  passed  away  as 
gently  as  a  child  falls  to  sleep  in  its  mother's  arms.  The  pub- 
lic business  was,  at  the  request  of  the  Governor  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, generally  suspended.  Large  numbers  of  citizens 
came  from  every  section  of  the  State  to  pay  to  his  memory 
the  last  sad  tribute  of  their  respect.  His  remains  were  de- 
posited in  the  beautiful  cemetery  which  lies  within  sight  of 
the  scenes  of  his  most  useful  labors,  where  a  simple  monu- 
ment truthfully  records  that  he  was  a  man  of  large  influence 
for  many  years  in  the  affairs  of  his  native  State. 


FRANCIS  RAWN  SHUNK.* 

GOVERNOR    UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1838. 

January  21,  1845,  to  July  9,  1848. 

TjmANCIS  RAWN  SHUNK  was  of  German  descent.  He 
J-  was  born  at  the  Trappe,  a  village  in  Montgomery  County, 
Pennsylvania,  August  7th,  1788.  His  father,  John,  was  the 
eon  of  Francis  Shunk,  who  emigrated  from  the  Palatinate  of 
the  Rhine,  in  Germany,  about  the  year  1715.  His  mother, 
Elizabeth  Rawn,  was  the  daughter  of  Casper  and  Barbara 
Rawn,  the  former  of  whom  also  emigrated  from  the  Palati- 
nate. The  memory  of  this  couple  is  still  held  in  the  highest 
veneration  by  all  who  were  acquainted  with  them.  They  were 
examples  of  those  excellent  virtues,  and  that  devoted  piety, 
which  elevate  our  nature,  and  invest  with  dignity  the  hum- 
blest conditions  of  life. 

The  mother  of  Governor  Shunk  was  a  woman  distin- 
guished for  her  kindness  and  affection,  and  for  her  devo- 
tion to  the  happiness  of  her  children.  He  often  spoke  of 
her  in  terms  of  the  most  devoted  attachment,  and  cherished 
her  memory  with  filial  piety  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  but  that  her  influence  was  greatly  felt  in  the 
formation  of  his  early  character,  and  its  subsequent  develop- 
ment. His  father  was  a  man  of  strong  and  stern  mind,  yet 
naturally  facetious  and  fond  of  indulging  in  this  propensity. 

His  parents  were  not  able  to  furnish  the  means,  or  spare 
his  time  to  secure,  in  the  ordinary  way,  even  the  rudiments 
of  an  education.  Much  of  his  childhood  and  youth  was 

*  This  account  of  the  Life  and  Character  of  Governor  Shunk  has  been  abridged 
from  a  Discourse  delivered  upon  the  occasion  of  his  death  by  his  friend  and 
neighbor,  Rev.  William  E.  De  Witt,  D.  D. 

892 


FRANCIS  RAWN  SHUNK.  393 

devoted  to  manual  labor.  When  not  more  than  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age,  he  was  employed  by  the  neighboring 
farmers  to  aid  them  in  their  agricultural  pursuits.  He  has 
been  heard  to  sj.y,  that,  among  the  sweetest  hours  of  his  ex- 
istence were  those,  when  returning  from  the  toils  of  the  week 
to  the  home  of  his  childhood,  he  was  permitted  to  repose  his 
aching  head  on  the  lap  of  his  mother,  and  listen  to  the  sooth- 
ing accents  of  her  voice,  consoling  him  under  his  trials,  and 
encouraging  his  hopes  for  the  future.  Notwithstanding  his 
want  of  facilities  for  securing  an  education,  his  untiring  in- 
dustry, combined  with  his  earnest  desire  for  self-improvement, 
enabled  him  to  make  such  advances  in  learning,  that  at  the 
early  age  of  fifteen  he  became  a  teacher,  and  soon  after  the 
instructor  of  the  school  at  the  village  where  he  was  born. 
From  that  time  until  1812,  he  seems  to  have  been  employed 
as  a  teacher  during  the  few  months  of  the  year  the  school  was 
continued,  and  the  rest  of  the  time  as  a  laborer  in  the  pursuits 
of  agriculture.  The  intervals  of  toil  were  devoted  to  the  im- 
provement of  his  mind  in  every  useful  branch  of  study.  In 
1812  he  was  selected  by  Andrew  Porter,  then  Surveyor- 
General  under  the  administration  of  Governor  Snyder,  to  fill 
a  clerkship  in  his  department.  While  thus  employed,  he  com- 
menced and  prosecuted  the  study  of  the  law  with  Thomas 
Elder,  Esq.,  of  Harrisburg.  In  1814  he  marched  as  a  private, 
with  many  of  his  fellow-townsmen,  to  the  defence  of  Balti- 
more. Soon  after,  he  was  chosen,  first  an  assistant,  and  then 
the  principal  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  for 
many  years  performed,  with  great  fidelity,  the  arduous  duties 
of  that  oifice.  He  was  subsequently  elected  secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Canal  Commissioners,  and  served  in  that  capacity 
during  a  period  when  the  condition  of  our  public  improve- 
ments called  for  the  most  constant  and  strenuous  efforts  on 
the  part  of  the  commissioners,  and  rendered  the  situation  of 
their  secretary  anything  but  a  sinecure.  In  1838  he  was  chosen 
by  Governor  Porter  Secretary  of  State.  On  retiring  from  that 
office,  he  removed  to  Pittsburg,  and  engaged  in  the  practice 
of  the  law.  In  1844  he  was  called  from  his  retirement  by  the 


394      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

voice  of  the  people  of  the  Commonwealth,  to  fill  the  highest 
office  in  their  gift.  He  so  conducted  his  administration,  as 
their  chief  executive,  that  he  received  from  them  the  highest 
expression  of  their  confidence  and  regard,  by  being  re-elected 
with  an  increased  majority,  and  that  too  against  an  opposing 
candidate  of  the  most  estimable  character,  whose  exalted 
virtues  and  worth  were  acknowledged  by  all. 

But  he  had  scarcely  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  second 
term  before  he  became  the  victim  of  a  disease  which  in  its 
early  progress,  excited  apprehensions  in  the  minds  of  his 
friends  that  it  might  prove  fatal.  The  Governor  himself, 
though  conscious  that  his  disease  was  deep-seated,  yet  seemed 
to  cherish,  with  confidence,  the  hope  that  the  vigor  of  his  con- 
stitution, and  the  skill  of  his  physician,  would  eventually 
restore  him  to  health.  It  was  not  until  the  morning  of  the 
9th  of  July,  when  a  severe  and  copious  hemorrhage  from  the 
lungs  took  place,  that  he  gave  up  entirely  the  hope  of  life, 
and  felt  that  his  days  were  indeed  numbered.  Upon  that 
day,  being  Sunday,  he  wrote  the  following  letter  of  resigna- 
tion —  the  last  public  act  of  his  life : 

To  THE  PEOPLE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  : 

It  having  pleased  Divine  Providence  to  deprive  me  of  the 
strength  necessary  to  the  further  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
your  Chief  Magistrate,  and  to  lay  me  on  a  bed  of  sickness, 
from  which  I  am  admonished  by  my  physicians,  and  my  own 
increasing  debility,  I  may,  in  all  human  probability,  never 
rise,  I  have  resolved,  upon  mature  reflection,  under  a  convic- 
tion of  duty,  on  this  day,  to  restore  to  you  the  trust  with 
which  your  suffrages  have  clothed  me,  in  order  that  you  may 
avail  yourselves  of  the  provision  of  the  Constitution  to  choose 
a  successor  at  the  next  general  election.  I,  therefore,  hereby 
resign  the  office  of  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  direct  this,  my  resignation,  to  be  filed  in  the 
office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth. 

In  taking  leave  of  you  under  circumstances  so  solemn,  ac- 
cept my  gratitude  for  the  confidence  you  have  reposed  in  me. 


FRANCIS  RAWN  SHUNK.  395 

My  prayer  is,  that  peace,  virtue,  intelligence,  and  religion, 
may  pervade  all  your  borders  —  that  the  free  institutions  you 
have  inherited  from  your  ancestors  may  remain  unimpaired 
till  the  latest  posterity  —  that  the  same  kind  Providence, 
which  has  already  so  signally  blessed  you,  may  conduct  you 
to  a  still  higher  state  of  individual  and  social  happiness — and 
when  the  world  shall  close  upon  you,  as  I  feel  it  is  soon  about 
to  close  upon  me,  that  you  may  enjoy  the  consolations  of  the 
Christian's  faith,  and  be  gathered,  without  a  wanderer  lost, 
into  the  fold  of  the  Great  Shepherd  above. 

FRS.  R.  SHUNK. 

HARKISBURG,  July  9,  1848. 

Governor  Shunk  was  emphatically  a  self-made  man.  His 
early  life  was  one  of  privation  and  toil  beyond  his  years. 
Much  of  that  time,  now  devoted  to  learning  even  by  those 
whom  penury  visits  with  its  severest  trials,  was  spent  by  him 
in  labor,  and  when  he  sought  to  improve  those  intervals, 
usually  spent  in  repose,  in  the  cultivation  of  his  mind,  the 
facilities  enjoyed  for  that  culture  were  greatly  inferior  to 
those*  now  possessed  even  in  the  most  adverse  circumstances 
of  life.  Books,  especially  those  designed  to  aid  the  youthful 
student  in  his  advancement  in  learning,  were  then  compara- 
tively rare.  Yet  what  he  wanted  in  the  means  of  improve- 
ment, he  more  than  supplied  by  the  diligent  improvement  of 
the  means  he  enjoyed.  What  books  he  could  obtain  he  read 
with  deep  interest,  not  lounging  on  a  sofa,  or  around  a  mar- 
ble centre-table  brightly  illumined  with  an  astral  lamp ;  but 
often  in  the  chimney-corner,  by  the  light  which  a  wood-fire 
or  its  embers  reflected,  and  when  his  body,  fatigued  with  the 
toils  of  the  day,  called  for  the  repose  of  the  night.  What  he 
read  he  pondered  until  it  became  a  part  of  his  own  mental 
being.  Could  we  have  seen  the  youthful  laborer  in  the  field, 
striving  to  maintain  his  place  side  by  side  with  vigorous 
manhood,  we  might  have  thought  of  him  in  the  future,  when 
his  frame  had  become  matured,  as  a  profitable  workman ;  but 
could  we  have  seen  him,  when  the  toils  of  the  day  were 


396      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

ended,  and  those  with  whom  he  had  wrought  retired  to  rest, 
poring  over  some  old  worn-out  book  but  valuable  for  the 
thoughts  it  contained,  it  would  not  have  required  the  ken  of 
a  prophet  to  have  foretold  that  he  would  become  more  than 
a  laborer. 

His  love  for  the  German  language  amounted  to  a  passion, 
and  it  is  said  he  read  it  with  great  beauty.  Though  not  un- 
acquainted with  the  best  English  writers,  he  delighted  most 
in  German  literature,  especially  in  German  poetry,  and  had  a 
taste  for  its  deep  and  abstract  philosophy,  for  the  study  of 
which  few  minds  were  better  adapted.  He  revelled  in  the 
abstractions  of  Kant  and  Fichte,  of  Schelling  and  Hegel, 
those  princes  of  German  philosophy,  as  he  did  in  the  deep 
musings,  the  sombre  imagery  and  recondite  thoughts,  of  the 
most  distinguished  German  poets. 

His  professional  attainments,  especially  in  the  more  abstract 
principles  of  law,  were  large,  and  as  a  counsellor  he  had  few 
superiors.  But  he  shrunk  from  the  personal  collision  its 
practice  in  the  courts  involved,  and  retired  from  the  bar  to 
engage  in  employments  and  studies  more  congenial  with  his 
taste. 

His  administration  as  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  Com- 
monwealth shows,  that  he  was  no  novice  in  the  great  and 
fundamental  principles  of  government.  His  state  papers  in- 
dicate that  he  had  deeply  studied  the  questions  of  policy  in- 
volving the  great  interests  of  this  Commonwealth  and  the 
country  at  large,  that  he  had  looked  at  their  remote  as  well 
as  immediate  consequences,  and  contemplated  their  influence 
on  the  progress  and  advancement  of  the  entire  community, 
under  the  fostering  care  of  our  free  institutions,  as  well  as 
their  adaptation  to  the  mere  accumulation  of  gain.  The 
opinions  which  these  papers  contain  commend  themselves  to 
our  attention,  not  only  for  the  candor  with  which  they  are 
expressed,  but  for  the  reasons  by  which  they  are  sustained. 

Free  institutions  cannot  exist  without  the  intellectual  and 
moral  culture  of  the  masses  of  the  community.  Of  nothing 
was  Governor  Shunk  more  deeply  convinced  than  of  this. 


FRANCIS  RA  WN  SHUNK.  397 

Our  common-school  system  had  a  deep  hold  on  the  affections 
of  his  heart.  He  knew  it  had  many  imperfections^  particu- 
larly as  it  was  carried  into  operation  in  some  of  the  rural 
districts;  he  knew  it  was  not  accomplishing  all  that  was  de- 
sirable ;  but  he  believed  it  would  yet  work  its  way  into  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  and  be  itself  the  most  efficient 
means  of  curing  many  of  its  defects.  He  rejoiced  in  the 
good  it  had  effected,  and  with  a  generous  enthusiasm  exulted 
in  the  good  it  would  effect. 

The  welfare  of  human  society  depends  on  nothing  more 
than  preserving  inviolate  the  institution  of  the  family  as  God 
has  formed  it.  But  for  years  past,  with  a  ruthless  hand  and 
a  reckless  spirit,  it  had  been  invaded  by  the  Legislature. 
The  sacred  ties  of  matrimony  had  been  broken  for  the  slight- 
est reasons,  and  those  natural  and  sacred  bonds  which  God 
has  himself  formed  between  parents  and  children  had  been 
rudely  violated.  So  regardless  had  the  Legislature  become 
of  the  sanctity  of  these  bonds,  that  not  only  applications  from 
our  own  citizens  crowded  upon  them  for  their  dissolution, 
but  from  other  States  where  a  wiser  policy  and  a  sterner 
morality  prevailed,  —  the  licentious,  who  desired  to  be  free 
from  the  restraints  their  marriage  vows  imposed,  hastened 
hither  to  take  advantage  of  a  laxer  morality,  in  securing  by 
legislative  enactments  the  dissolution  of  the  marriage 
contract. 

At  first,  Governor  Shunk  seems  to  have  yielded,  without 
reflection,  to  the  policy  that  had  prevailed ;  but  no  sooner 
did  he  reflect  upon  it,  than  he  was  convinced  of  its  enormous 
evil,  and  labored  to  resist  it.  Much  was  done  by  him  to 
check  that  licentious  disregard  for  the  marriage  relation 
which  began  to  prevail  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  which 
threatened  the  most  serious  evils  to  the  purity  of  domestic 
institutions  —  the  most  effectual  guardian  of  public  morals. 
Cases  undoubtedly  occur  which  call  for  the  interference  of 
law,  as  well  as  for  the  exercise  of  our  warmest  sympathy; 
but  they  are  comparatively  few.  The  conduct  of  Governor 
Shunk  on  this  subject  secured  the  warm  approbation  of  the 


398      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

virtuous  of  all  parties.  On  no  subject  was  he  more  loudly  or 
universally  applauded. 

He  adopted  the  maxim  as  sound,  that  that  government  was 
best  which  governed  least,  and  hence  he  was,  in  the  main,  in 
favor  only  of  general  laws  for  the  protection  of  property,  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  operating  equally  on  all, 
and  leaving  all  alike  free,  in  the  exercise  of  their  natural 
energies,  to  advance  their  own  interests. 

He  said,  "  it  was  not  by  looking  to  special  legislation  for 
privileges  which  are  denied  to  others,  but  by  a  just  and 
manly  self-reliance,  that  men .  secure  their  own  progress  and 
the  well-being  of  the  State."  The  tendency  of  capital  to 
accumulate  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  the  power  which  it 
always  wields,  the  antagonism  between  it  and  labor,  and  the 
encroachments  of  the  former  on  the  just  rights  of  the  latter, 
even  under  the  best  administration  of  the  most  equitable 
laws,  he  regarded  as  one  of  the  dangers  of  republics.  The 
distinctions  thus  created  engender  unhappy  jealousies;  and 
even  the  appearance  of  oppression  on  the  one  side  too  often 
excites  to  lawless  aggression  on  the  other.  This  tendency  he 
thought  should  by  no  means  be  increased  by  legislation. 
Hence  he  resisted  all  grants  of  special  privileges  for  the  prose- 
cution of  private  gain,  as  creating  artificial  distinctions,  as 
repugnant  to  the  spirit  and  genius  of  republican  institutions, 
and  calculated  to  destroy,  ultimately,  that  equality  of  condi- 
tion essential  to  the  preservation  of  equal  rights. 

In  securing  this  equality,  he  regarded,,  as  most  important, 
the  operation  of  intestate  laws,  and  laws  prohibiting  the 
entailment  of  estates ;  and  consequently  regarded  all  contriv- 
ances, in  the  shape  of  corporations  with  special  privileges,  by 
which  wealth  is  aggregated  and  perpetuated  under  the  con- 
trol of  a  few  individuals,  as  artificial  aristocracies  of  the  worst 
kind,  and  directly  opposed  to  the  natural  simplicity  of  our 
democratic  institutions.  He  dreaded  their  demoralizing  ten- 
dencies in  our  elections,  from  the  power  which  they  might 
acquire  over  the  pi  ">perty,  and  consequently  over  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  electors. 


FRANCIS  RAWN  SHUNK.  399 

Wealth  he  regarded  as  of  minor  consequence  in  promoting 
either  the  happiness  of  individuals,  or  the  welfare  of  the 
community.  A  lofty  independence  of  character,  a  free  mind, 
a  good  conscience,  generous  and  kind  affections,  combined 
with  the  sanctifying  power,  the  holy  aspirations,  and  the  ani- 
mating hopes,  of  a  pure  Christianity,  he  considered  the  essen- 
tial elements  of  human  happiness.  He  believed  that  man, 
never,  since  the  sad  apostasy,  was  placed  in  a  hetter  civil  and 
social  condition,  to  secure  this  happiness,  than  in  our  own 
beautiful  country,  and  under  our  own  free  institutions. 

When  we  review  his  life,  when  we  reflect  on  the  defects  of 
his  early  education,  on  the  serious  difficulties  to  which  he  was 
subjected  in  the  culture  of  his  mind,  when  we  look  at  his  on- 
ward progress  through  life — his  steady  advancement  from 
the  poor  laboring  boy  to  the  Chief  Executive  of  this  great 
Commonwealth,  and  the  ability  with  which  he  performed  the 
duties  of  that  exalted  station,  we  cannot  but  cherish  the  high- 
est respect  for  his  mental  acquisitions.  His  example  presents 
in  the  strongest  light  the  ge\iius  of  free  institutions,  in  open- 
ing the  road  to  the  highest  eminence  to  the  poorest  and 
humblest  of  our  youth,  and  should  excite  all  to  a  virtuous 
emulation  to  excel  in  the  culture  of  their  minds;  for,  although 
all  cannot  reach  the  Executive  chair,  all  may  become  re- 
spected, useful,  and  eminent  in  the  several  spheres  of  life. 

But  we  should  do  signal  injustice  to  the  character  of  Gov- 
ernor Shunk,  and  omit  one  of  the  most  important  elements 
of  his  success  in  life,  if  we  did  not  refer  to  his  moral  as  well 
as  intellectual  culture.  He  was  a  sincere,  honest,  upright 
man,  pure  in  his  private  morals,  and  no  less  so  in  his  public 
character.  The  political  principles  and  policy,  avowed  in  his 
State  papers,  were  sincerely  entertained.  The}7  were  not  set 
forth,  as  some,  who  knew  him  not  and  did  not  agree  with 
him,  may  erroneously  suppose,  to  please  the  popular  taste. 
He  never  courted  popular  favor  at  the  expense  of  sincerity 
and  truth.  He  did  not  believe  that  the  end  justified  the 
means.  The  want  of  political  integrity,  in  his  view,  involved 
the  want  of  private  worth.  The  man  who  was  dishonest  in 


400    GOVERNORS  UNDER   CONSTITUTION  OF  1838.      , 

one  situation,  he  believed  would  be  dishonest  in  another; 
that  sincerity,  truth  and  honesty,  faithfully  maintained  in  all 
the  relations  of  life,  in  little  matters  as  well  as  those  more 
important,  were  essential  attributes  of  character  for  one  who 
would  secure  and  maintain,  for  any  length  of  time,  the  public 
confidence.  Trick,  fraud,  artifice  and  chicanery,  though  they 
may  secure*  an  ephemeral  success,  he  believed  were  sure  to 
meet,  ultimately,  their  due  reward,  in  public  as  in  private  life 
Dishonesty  at  heart  cannot  long  be  concealed,  even  from  a 
naturally  confiding  people.  Occasions  will  occur  when  a 
righteous  Providence  will  leave  the  man  to  himself,  to  fall 
under  the  power  of  some  temptation,  that  will  unfold  his  real 
character,  and  subject  him  to  the  desecration  of  an  indignant 
public. 

The  proverbial  honesty  of  Governor  Shunk  was  one  prin- 
cipal cause  of  his  popularity,  both  in  public  and  private  life. 
There  were  multitudes  who  ,did  not  properly  estimate  his 
intellectual  worth,  who  did  not  adopt  many  of  his  political 
views,  or  did  not  belong  to  his*  political  party,  who  yet  be- 
lieved him  to  be  an  honest,  upright  man,  in  whom  they  could 
confide,  and  on  that  account  gave  him  their  support. 

There  are  many  politicians  who  suppose,  that,  as  a  worthless 
man's  vote  is  worth  as  much  at  the  polls  as  that  of  a  good 
man ;  while  it  is  important  to  conciliate  the  friendship  of  the 
latter  by  pretensions  to  morality,  it  is  equally  important  to 
associate  with  the  former,  and  cater  to  his  propensities ;  to 
treat  the  intemperate  at  one  time,  and  praise  temperance  at 
another;  to  laugh  with  the  Infidel,  and  pray  with  the  Chris- 
tian. Such  a  game  cannot  be  long  successfully  played.  The 
good  and  the  wise  will  soon  understand  the  man,  and  with- 
hold from  him  their  confidence,  while  the  wicked  and  licen- 
tious have  too  great  a  regard  for  their  own  interests  to  trust 
them  in  the  hands  of  one  who  has  proved  himself  insincere 
and  dishonest.  .  The  example  of  Governor  Shunk  strikingly 
shows  the  value  of  honesty  and  uprightness,  as  elements  of 
permanent  political  success. 

With  sterling,  unbending  integrity,  he  united  child-like 


FRANCIS  RAWN  SHUNK.  401 

aimplicity  of  character,  and  unmeasured  kindness  of  heart. 
We  have  never  known  a  man  of  whom  it  can  with  so  much 
truth  be  said,  that  affection  and  kindness  were  the  very  ele- 
ments of  his  being,  nor  one  who  manifested  such  unfeigned 
pleasure  in  the  happiness  of  others.  He  seemed  to  revel  in 
their  enjoyments.  The  gamboling  of  a  lamb,  the  smile  of  an 
infant,  the  joyous  shout  of  childhood,  lit  up  his  countenance, 
and  seemed  to  make  his  very  heart  beat  stronger  with  joyful 
emotions.  The  constant  boundings  of  his  affections  rendered 
his  life  a  very  happy  one.  Despondency  and  gloom  seldom 
fell  upon  his  brow.  There  was  a  lightsomeness,  a  joyousness, 
that  made  his  very  step  elastic  in  the  days  of  his  health,  and 
transfused  into  his  conduct  almost  a  boyish  cheerfulness, 
which  some,  unacquainted  with  his  character,  looked  upon  as 
a  weakness,  and  others  considered  as  violating  the  proprieties 
of  his  elevated  situation.  But  he  could  not  help  it.  If  a  kind 
look,  a  cheerful  remark,  and  a  cordial  shake  of  the  hand, 
would  give  any  pleasure  to  the  poorest  man  he  met,  it  was 
not  in  his  heart  to  withhold  them.  If  sportiveness  would 
make  the  children  around  him  happy,  he  could  not  refuse  it, 
though  it  should  be  at  the  expense  of  the  gravity  of  the  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Commonwealth.  There  was  a  frankness,  a  full 
and  open-heartedness,  that  secured  confidence;  and  never 
was  the  confidence  thus  secured  betrayed. 

Under  that  lightsomeness,  that  joyousness  which  imparted 
to  his  general  manner  through  life  a  youthful  cheerfulness, 
there  was  a  stratum  of  deep  seriousness,  and  religious  feeling, 
of  the  extent  of  which  many  of  his  most  intimate  friends 
were  not  fully  aware.  Governor  Shunk  was  a  firm  believer 
in  the  great  doctrines  of  Christianity.  He  was  a  Lutheran 
by  education,  and  remained  through  life  strongly  attached 
to  the  doctrines,  the  polity,  and  the  discipline  of  the  Lutheran 
Church.  He  read  Luther's  Bible,  in  the  German,  daily  — 
and  from  expressions  dropped  from  his  lips  on  his  death-bed, 
we  may  infer  that  he  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  duty  of  habit- 
ual secret  prayer. 

To  the  pastor  of  the  Lutheran  church  he  remarked,  but  a 
26 


402    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

short  time  before  the  last  moment,  in  answer  to  his  question, 
whether  he  continued  to  feel  the  supports  of  religion :  "  I 
have  great  pain  of  body,  but  great  peace  of  mind."  To  Mrs. 
Shunk  he  said  he  had  a  message  for  each  of  the  family;  but 
in  attempting  to  speak  it,  the  words  broke  on  his  heart. 
Thus  full  of  affection  and  full  of  hope,  he  fell  asleep, 

"  Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
Around  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams." 

He  was  born,  as  we  have  said,  at  the  Trappe.  There  he 
had  spent  his  youthful  days  of  toil.  There  he  had  enjoyed 
the  warm  gushing  sympathies  of  a  mother's  heart.  In  that 
ancient  house  of  God  he  had  sat,  and  listened  with  solemn 
attention  to  the  holy  man,  as  he  spoke  of  life,  and  death, 
and  immortality,  until  his  "  heart  was  made  soft,"  and  feel- 
ings of  strange  and  sacred  delight  stole  over  his  mind. 
Around  that  ancient  graveyard, 

"  Where  heaves  the  turf  in  many  a  mouldering  heap," 

he  had  often  wandered  in  the  stillness  of  the  evening  hour, 
and  given  himself  up  to  solitary  musing,  until  the  unbidden 
tears  dropped  from  his  cheek. 

These  fond  recollections  of  his  youth  he  had  cherished 
through  life ;  and  when  the  hand  of  death  lay  cold  upon  him, 
these  recollections  awoke  with  freshness  in  his  mind,  and 
there  with  kindred  dust  he  desired  that  his  might  repose. 
Thither  were  borne  his  earthly  remains,  there  to  rest  in  hope, 
until  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 


WILLIAM  FREAME  JOHNSTON, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1838. 

July  9,  1848,  to  January  20,  1852. 

WILLIAM  FREAME  JOHNSTON,  the  third  Governor 
under  the  Constitution  of  1838,  was  born  at  Greens- 
burg,  "Westmoreland  County,  on  the  29th  of  November,  1808. 
His  paternal  ancestors  were  originally  from  Annandale,  Scot- 
land, where  they  at  one  time  possessed  the  estates  of  Brack- 
enside ;  but  the  head  of  the  house,  Alexander  Johnston,  being 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Fontanoy,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1745, 
where  he  was  serving  as  a  captain  of  Welsh  Fusiliers  in  the 
British  service,  the  estate  fell  into  dispute,  and  finally  through 
political  strife  was  lost,  and  the  family  settled  in  Ireland. 
There,  in  the  County  of  Fermaugh,  in  July,  1772,  the  father 
of  the  Governor,  Alexander  Johnston,  was  born,  and  from 
thence  emigrated  to  America  in  1796.  He  at  first  served  as 
a  surveyor  in  the  western  part  of  the  State,  and  finally  settled 
in  Westmoreland  County.  He  was  sheriff  of  the  county  in 
1808,  receiving  his  commission  from  Governor  McKean,  and 
afterwards  served  as  Magistrate,  Treasurer,  and  Register  and 
Recorder  under  Governor  Wolf.  He  was,  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  active  life,  largely  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits, 
which  the  business  of  iron  manufacture,  then  just  commenced, 
rendered  active. 

The  mother  of  the  Governor,  Elizabeth  Freame,  was  born 
in  Franklin  County,  in  November,  1781.  Her  father,  Wil- 
liam Freame,  a  private  in  the  British  Army  in  1760,  came  to 
this  country  with  General  Wolf,  and  at  the  peace  of  1763  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  France,  accepted,  with  many  of  hia 
comrades,  the  proposition  of  the  English  Government,  to 

403 


404      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

remain  in  the  Colonies.  He  settled  first  in  Lancaster  County, 
and  afterwards  removed  to  Franklin  County,  where  he  mar- 
ried Elizabeth  Johnston,  who  had  emigrated  to  this  country 
from  Ireland  with  her  father  in  1782.  This  branch  01  the 
JYhnston  family  settled  in  Kentucky  and  North  Carolina. 

The  issue  of  the  marriage  of  Alexander  Johnston  with 
Elizabeth  Freame  was  eight  sons  and  two  daughters.  The 
two  eldest  sons  were  educated  at  West  Point,  and  served  in 
tho  regular  army.  The  youngest,  Richard,  was  a  volunteer 
in  the  Mexican  War.  Before  its  close  he  was  appointed  a 
Lieutenant  in  the  regular  army,  and  was  killed  at  the  head 
of  his  company,  while  storming  the  enemy's  works  at  the 
battle  of  Chepultepec.  Hon.  Edward  Johnston  resides  in 
Iowa.  The  remaining  sons  are  residents  of  this  State.  Colonel 
John  W.  Johnston  served  through  the  Mexican  War,  and  in 
the  late  war  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  and  Colonel  of  the  Four- 
teenth Regiment  of  the  three  months'  service,  and  Colonel  of 
the  Ninety-third  Regiment  of  the  three  years'  service.  The 
physical  stature  of  the  sons  was  remarkable,  varying  in  height 
from  six  feet  to  six  feet  six  inches,  and  in  weight  from  two 
hundred  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  The  father  lived 
far  beyond  the  period  allotted  to  man,  dying  on  the  15th  of 
July,  1872,  in  the  one  hundredth  year  of  his  age.  At  the 
period  of  his  death  he  was  the  oldest  Freemason  in  the 
United  States,  having  been  initiated  seventy  -  seven  years 
before  in  Ireland. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  in  early  boyhood  taught,  by 
a  kind  and  good  mother,  that  the  cardinal  duties  were  to  obey 
God's  commands,  to  honor  parents,  and  to  love  native  coun- 
try. His  common-school  and  academic  education  was  lim- 
ited; but  he  had  from  youth  an  ardent  taste  for  reading,  and 
being  blessed  with  vigorous  powers  of  mind  and  body,  he 
was  enabled,  by  great  diligence,  to  acquire  a  vast  fund  of 
information,  which  served  him  instead  of  elaborate  training. 
lie  studied  law  under  Major  J.  B.  Alexander,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar  in  May,  1829,  in  his  twenty-first  year. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  removed  to  Armstrong  County,  where 


WILLIAM  FREAME  JOHNSTON.  405 

lie  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law,  soon  rising  to  a  position 
of  commanding  influence.  He  was  appointed  by  Attorney- 
General  Samuel  Douglass,  and  subsequently  by  Attorney-Gen- 
eral Lewis,  District  Attorney  for  Armstrong  Count}7,  which 
office  he  held  until  the  expiration  of  Governor  Wolf's  first 
term.  For  several  years  he  represented  the  county  in  the 
lower  House  of  the  Legislature,  and  in  1847  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Senate  from  the  district  composed  of  the 
counties  of  Armstrong,  Indiana,  Cambria,  and  Clearfield. 

As  a  legislator  Mr.  Johnston  was  bold  and  original,  not 
beholden  to  precedents,  and  was  an  acknowledged  leader. 
During  the  period  in  which  he  was  in  the  Legislature  a  groat 
financial  crisis  occurred.  So  great  was  the  distress  that  Mr. 
Van  Buren,  then  President,  was  obliged  to  call  an  extra  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  to  devise  means  for  the  relief  of  the  country. 
The  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  by  the  advice  of  Governor 
Porter,  authorized  the  sale  of  all  the  bank  and  bridge  stocks 
belonging  to  the  Commonwealth,  and  revived  the  State  tax. 
But  every  device  failed  to  meet  the  emergency,  and  the  inter- 
est on  the  State  debts,  then  over  forty  millions,  rested  unpaid. 
The  credit  of  the  State  was  in  a  deplorable  condition.  Eng- 
lish bondholders  were  loud  in  their  denunciation  of  the  bad 
faith  of  the  Government,  Sidney  Smith,  in  particular,  writing 
in  the  most  bitter  strain.  At  this  crisis  Mr.  Johnston  came 
forward  with  a  proposition  to  issue  relief  notes,  for  the  pay- 
ment or  funding  of  which  the  State  pledged  its  faith.  This 
he  advocated  with  his  usual  energy  and  logical  acuteness,  and 
though. a  majority  of  the  Legislature  was  politically  opposed 
to  him,  it  was  adopted,  and  gave  instant  relief.  It  was  de- 
signed as  a  temporary  expedient,  and  as  such  was  remarkably 
successful.  As  the  originator  of  this  measure,  and  its  special 
advocate,  he  acquired  a  reputation  for  financial  skill  and 
ability  throughout  the  commonwealth,  its  fortunate  result 
serving  only  the  more  widely  to  circulate  his  fame. 

In  1847,  Mr.  Johnston  was  elected  President  of  the  Senate. 
By  a  provision  of  the  Constitution,  if  any  vacancy  occur  by 
death,  or  otherwise,  in  the  office  of  Governor,  the  Speaker 


406      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

of  the  Senate  becomes  the  acting  executive  officer.     Governor 
Shunk  had  been  re-elected  in  the  fall  of  1847,  and  had  been 
re-inaugurated  in  January  following;  but  in  July  of  that  year 
he  had  a  violent  attack  of  a  pulmonary  disease,  from  which 
he  had  for  some  time  suffered.     A  copious  hemorrhage  of 
the  lungs,  by  which  he  was  reduced  to  the  very  brink  of  the 
grave,  convinced  him  that  he  could  not  long  survive,  and  on 
the  9th  of  that  month  he  resigned.     Accordingly,  Speaker 
Johnston  became  Governor.     But  the  Constitution  provides, 
that  if  the  vacancy  occurs  three  months  before  the  general 
Fall  election,  the  acting  governor  shall  order  a  new  election ; 
and  the  statute  provides,  that  "  the  writ  shall  issue  at  least 
three  calendar  months  before  the  election."     If  the  vacancy 
should  occur  within  three  months  of  the  election,  so  that  a 
notice  of  three  full  months  could  not  be  given,  then  the  new 
election  must  be  postponed  for  a  year.     Governor  Shunk  re- 
signed on  the  last  day  possible,  to  allow  of  a  new  choice  at 
the  ensuing  Fall  election,  and  that  day  was  Sunday.     The  fol- 
lowing day,  Monday,  would  be  too  late  to  give  a  notice  of  the 
three  full  calendar  months  required  by  the  statute.     It  was  a 
case  where  the  Constitution,  and  the  statute  providing  for  its 
practical  operation,  were  in  conflict.     By  a  strict  construction 
there  was  no  authority  for  issuing  a  precept  for  a  new  election 
until  the  following  year.     But  by  this  decision  the  acting 
governor  might  render  himself  liable  to  a  charge  of  being 
actuated  by  selfish  motives,  inasmuch  as  he  would  thereby 
lengthen  his  lease  of  power  an  entire  year.     The  Senate  was 
not  in  session  when  the  resignation  occurred,  and  Mr.  John- 
ston was  at  his  home  in  a  distant  part  of  the  State.     It  was 
not  until  the  26th  that  he  reached  the  seat  of  government 
and  assumed  authority.     This  delay  made  the  problem  all 
the  more  difficult  of  solution. 

Not  wishing  to  hold  the  offic*  one  moment  longer  than  the 
popular  wrill  seemed  to  dictate,  he  determined  to  avoid  every 
occasion  of  a  charge  of  selfishness  and  ordered  the  immediate 
election.  In  his  first  message  to  the  General  Assembly,  he 
clearly  states  the  motives  which  actuated  him :  "  After  a  full 
and  careful  examination  of  the  whole  matter,"  he  says,  "  I 


WILLIAM  FREAME  JOHNSTON.  407 

believed  it  my  duty  to  issue  the  writs,  requiring  notice  to  be 
given  that  an  election  would  be  duly  held  on  the  2d  Tuesday 
of  October,  then  next  ensuing,  for  the  election  of  a  Chief 
Magistrate  of  this  Commonwealth.  It  appeared  to  me  that 
in  all  cases  of  doubt  there  was  no  safer  resting-place  than 
submission  to  the  decision  of  the  people,  and  that  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  laws  relating  to  the  point  in  question,  if  any 
doubt  arose,  the  better  course  in  a  republican  government 
was  to  refer  to  the  citizen  voter  the  right  of  selecting,  at  the 
earliest  period,  his  presiding  officer,  rather  tlran  assume  a 
position  which  would  continue  official  station  in  myself,  be- 
yond the  earliest  legal  opportunity  to  surrender  it  into  his 
hands.  The  organic  law  required  the  election,  and  the  legis- 
lative enactment  should  be  so  construed  as  not  to  contravene 
the  constitutional  provision.  Had  the  terms  of  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws  clearly  given  a  different  position  to  the  question, 
however  unpleasant  the  task  of  performing  the  duties  of  the 
office  without  the  indorsement  of  the  people's  will,  they 
would  have  been  faithfully  executed." 

The  election  thus  ordered  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Mr. 
Johnstoji  for  the  full  term  of  three  years.  One  of  the  first 
subjects  which  occupied  his  attention,  on  assuming  the  execu- 
tive trust,  was  that  of  the  material  interests  of  the  Common- 
wealth. He  saw  on  every  hand  the  elements  of  great  pros- 
perity. The  iron  and  the  coal  were  bursting  forth  on  every 
hill-side,  and  in  every  valley  was  a  soil  of  untold  fertility.  It 
only  needed  the  fostering  care  of  government  to  fill  the  State 
with  a  busy  population,  and  create  marts  where  the  hum  of 
industry  should  be  ceaselessly  heard.  In  his  opinion  that 
fostering  care  could  best  be  secured  by  a  protective  tariff. 
The  legislation  of  Congress  of  1846,  upon  this  subject,  was 
framed  for  revenue,  and  discriminated  against,  rather  than 
for  protection.  This  policy-  he  argues  against  in  his  first 
message  with  great  zeal  and  ability.  "  The  price  of  labor," 
he  says,  "is  regulated  by  its  demand,  and  the  value  of  the 
article  it  produces Hence,  whatever  increases  profit- 
able labor,  is  substantially  beneficial  to  the  working  classes, 
and  affords  them  the  means  of  comfort,  the  delights  of  ra- 


408      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

tional  enjoyment,  and  the  opportunity  of  exalting  their  condi- 
tion, and  performing  with  safety  to  the  country  the  duties 
of  citizens.  The  manufacturer,  if  he  be  sustained  in  his  en- 
terprise, produces  this  result  by  opening  to  the  laborer  a  new 
source  of  employment.  It  is  frequently  urged  that  the 
system  of  protection  to  domestic  industry  is  of  more  interest 
to  the  manufacturer  than  to  the  laborer,  as  it  enables  him  to 
dispose  of  his  fabrics  for  a  higher  price,  and  to  realize  a  better 
profit  on  his  capital ;  but  is  not  the  capital  of  the  laborer  also 
involved  in  the  fabric,  and  does  he  not  receive  a  reward  in 
proportion  to  the  value  of  the  article  ?  Let  it  be  remembered 
also,  that  his  daily  bread,  the  wants  of  his  family,  the  educa- 
tion of  his  children,  all  depend  upon  the  success  of  the  estab- 
lishment at  which  he  is  employed,  and  the  objection  can  have 

little  weight The  manufacturer  carries  to  market  in 

the  fabrics  he  proposes  to  sell,  the  produce  of  the  farmer, 
who  is  thereby  relieved  of  the  hazard  and  expense  of  convey- 
ance. In  another  form  he  is  still  more  largely  benefited. 
One  of  the  elements  of  well  regulated  society  is  unity  of  in- 
terest. Whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary,  no  national 
antipathies  exist  between  capital  and  labor.  They  are  depen- 
dent on,  are  supported  by,  and  receive  vitality  from  each 
other.  The  manufacturer  who  invests  under  the  fostering 
care  of  government  his  capital  in  profitable  industry  opens  a 
new  source  of  wealth  to  the  farmer,  the  artisan,  and  the  la- 
borer. An  industrious  population  whose  reward  affords  com- 
fort and  competence,  gathers  around  him ;  other  classes  are 
attracted,  and  the  store-house,  the  workshop,  the  school  and 
the  church  are  erected;  villages  spring  up;  the  din  of  active 
industry  and  the  sound  of  enjoyment  mingle  together;  roads 
are  opened,  bridges  are  built,  lands  rise  in  value,  and  the 
farmer  finds  a  market  at  his  door,  not  only  for  his  ordinary 
surplus  produce,  but  also  for  numberless  articles  which  were 
deemed  unworthy  of  transportation.  From  that  overflowing 
fountain,  by  an  hundred  rivulets,  wealth  is  ponred  into  his 
treasury When,  on  the  other  hand,  the  manufac- 
turer, unprotected  by  the  government,  is  compelled  to  dis- 
continue his  business,  not  only  the  laborer,  the  artisan,  and 


WILLIAM  FREAME  JOHNSTON:  409 

the  agriculturist,  but  the  State  also,  is  seriously  injured,  in 
the  general  depression  of  business,  the  diminished  wealth  of 
the  country,  and  the  reduced  value  of  capital." 

To  strengthen  his  position,  Governor  Johnston  quoted  in 
this  connection,  from  the  messages  of  Presidents  Washing- 
ton, Jefferson,  Madison,  and  Monroe,  and  Governors  Snyder, 
Findlay,  Wolf,  and  Porter,  in  which  at  successive  periods 
they  had  urged  the  same  policy.  The  passage  from  Jeffer- 
son's message  is  striking :  "  The  suspension,"  he  says,  "  of 
our  foreign  commerce,  produced  by  the  injustice  of  the  bel- 
ligerent powers,  and  the  consequent  losses  and  sacrifices  of 
our  citizens,  are  subjects  of  just  concern.  The  situation  into 
which  we  have  thus  been  forced,  has  impelled  us  to  apply  a 
portion  of  our  industry  and  capital  to  internal  manufactures 
and  improvements.  The  extent  of  this  conversion  is  daily 
increasing,  and  little  doubt  remains,  that  the  establishments 
formed  and  forming,  will  —  under  the  auspices  of  cheaper 
materials  and  subsistence,  the  freedom  of  labor  from  taxation 
with  us,  and  of  protecting  duties  ajid  prohibitions  —  become  per- 
manent." 

Uutil-the  administration  of  Governor  Johnston,  the  records 
of  the  colonial  and  the  State  government  had  remained  in 
single  manuscript  copy,  and  in  a  very  confused  condition, 
almost  impossible  of  access.  In  addition  to  being  in  a  per- 
ishable state,  they  were  constantly  exposed  to  destruction 
by  fire  upon  the  slightest  accident.  They  covered  a  period 
of  State  and  National  history  the  most  important  and  pre- 
cious to  the  citizen.  The  Governor,  ever  jealous  of  the  honor 
and  renown  of  the  Commonwealth,  became  solicitous  for  the 
safety  of  these  documents.  In  his  message  of  1851,  he  says: 
"  My  attention  has  been  called  to  the  large  body  of  original 
papers  in  the  State  Department,  connected  with  the  colonial 
and  Revolutionary  History  of  the  State,  and  their  extremely 
exposed  and  perishing  condition.  These  records  are  worth 
preservation,  as  containing  authentic  information  of  the  action 
of  our  fathers  in  the  struggle  for  national  existence.  In  the 
Capitol  of  Pennsylvania,  and  with  the  sympathies  of  her 
patriotic  people,  was  independence  matured  and  declared. 


410      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  0^1838. 

Her  soldiers  were  most  numerous  around  the  standard  of  the 
nation,  and  there  were  more  battle-fields  on  her  soil  than  in 
the  same  area  elsewhere.  Every  memorial  of  those  days  of 
devotion  and  trial  should  be  faithfully  preserved.  There  ex- 
ists a  single  copy  in  manuscript  of  the  minutes  of  the  revolu- 
tionary Executive  Council,  a  document  by  far  too  valuable  to 
remain  longer  within  the  reach  of  accident  or  mutilation.  It 
would  be  gratifying  to  a  large  body  of  our  constituents  if  the 
Assembly  would  authorize  the  employment  of  a  competent 
gentleman  to  select  and  arrange  for  publication  these  memo- 
rials of  an  interesting  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Common- 
wealth." In  compliance  with  this  recommendation,  an  act 
was  passed  authorizing  the  appointment  of  a  suitable  agent 
to  select  and  superintend  their  publication.  Mr.  Samuel 
Hazard,  a  gentleman  of  taste  and  ability  well  suited  to  the 
execution  of  the  trust,  was  delegated,  and  under  his  supervi- 
sion twenty-eight  volumes  of  Colonial  Records,  and  Pennsylva- 
nia Archives  containing  a  vast  amount  of  original  papers  of 
incalculable  value  and  interest,  were  published. 

The  period  during  which  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  under 
discussion,  both  before  and  after  its  enactment,  was  one  of 
vital  interest  to  every  citizen  of  the  Commonwealth.  The 
excitement  ran  high  while  Governor  Johnston  was  in  the  Ex- 
ecutive chair.  In  his  first  message  he  enunciated  the  princi- 
ples by  which  he  should  be  governed,  and  which  he  believed 
ought  to  prevail.  "  While  the  compromises,"  he  says,  "  of 
the  Constitution  should  be  maintained  in  good  faith  towards 
our  Southern  brethren,  it  is  our  duty  to  see  that  they  are  pre- 
served with  equal  fidelity  to  ourselves.  ~No  encroachments, 
however  sanctioned  by  use,  should  be  acknowledged  as  prece- 
dents for  further  wrongs  against  the  interests,  prosperity,  and 
happiness  of  the  non-slave-holding  States  of  the  Union.  If 
slavery  be,  in  itself,  an  infraction  of  human  rights  —  if  it  be 
directly  opposed  to  the  enlightened  spirit  of  our  free  institu- 
tions— if  it  destroy  the  equality  of  power  in  the  general  Gov- 
ernment, by  enlarging,  where  it  exists,  the  constitutional 
representation  —  if  it  possess  a  direct  or  indirect  influence 
against  Northern  and  Western  policy  and  interests,  by  pro- 


WILLIAM  FREAME  JOHNSTON.  ill 

inoting  a  system  of  laws  destructive  to  domestic  industry,  and 
vitally  affecting  free  labor  —  if  it  retard  the  natural  growth  of 
population  and  improvement,  by  the  appropriation  of  large 
tracts  of  land  for  the  benefit  of  the  few  to  the  injury  of  the 
many  —  if  it  be  in  open  defiance  of  the  spirit  of  the  age,  the 
march  of  rational  truth,  and  the  enlightened  policy  of  man- 
kind—  it  is  time  to  arrest  its  further  progress.  These,  it  is 
believed,  are  the  settled  convictions  of  our  citizens,  and  their 
determination  to  maintain  them  is  unalterable." 

The  passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  the  excitement 
incident  to  the  return  of  fugitives  under  it,  soon  after  became 
a  subject  of  heated  discussion.  Governor  Johnston  held 
upon  this  subject  that  the  Constitution  provided  that  fugi- 
tives should  be  given  up;  that  there  could  not  be  concurrent 
jurisdiction,  as,  in  that  case,  thirty-one  sovereignties  might 
prescribe  as  many  different  rules  of  action,  each  meant  to 
make  effective  National  legislation;  that,  upon  the  question 
which  should  decide  whether  a  person  claimed  ought  right- 
fully to  be  given  up,  the  State;  or  the  National  government, 
the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  had  settled  that  it  should 
rest  with  the  latter;  and  that,  consequently,  whenever  power 
over  a  subject-matter  is  vested  by  the  Constitution  in  Con- 
gress, and  the  power  has  been  exercised,  the  authority  of  the 
States  has  been  judicially  declared,  merged,  and  abolished. 
Of  the  injustice  and  impropriety  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
he  had  no  doubt ;  but  Congress  having  a  clear  right  to  make 
it,  he  believed  that  it  should  be  obeyed  until  it  could  be 
modified,  or  entirely  wiped  from  the  statute  book.  The 
system  authorizing  commissioners  to  hold  courts  for  deter- 
mining the  right  of  rendition  in  particular  cases,  he  believed 
open  to  the  gravest  objections.  Upon  this  question,  he  says: 
"  All  history  shows  that  special  tribunals,  clothed  with  dis- 
cretionary powers  over  person  and  property,  are  liable  to 
abuse,  and  have  been  instruments  of  oppression.  If  in  these 
the  early  days  of  the  Republic,  when  no  reason  of  urgent 
State  necessity  can  be  invoked,  powers  of  a  high  judicial 
nature  over  the  liberty  and  property  of  an  individual,  are  to 
be  vested  by  appointment  of  an  inferior  tribunal,  in  an  irre- 


412      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

eponsible  person,  the  security  of  the  life,  reputation,  and 
liberty  of  the  citizen  in  after-times,  when  new  political  or 
social  emergencies  may  arise,  will  depend  on  a  most  pre- 
carious tenure."  He  held  that  the  representatives  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  Congress  should  labor  to  secure  a  modification  of 
the  law  in  this  particular. 

Governor  Johnston  deserves  much  credit  for  the  successful 
manner  in  which  he  managed  the  financial  affairs  of  the 
Commonwealth  during  his  administration.  Upon  his  acces- 
sion the  debt  was  over  forty  millions,  having  been  increased 
eighteen  millions  during  the  preceding  nine  years.'  The 
interest  on  this  vast  sum  was  regularly  paid. 

His  political  course  during  his  first  term  had  been  so 
satisfactory  to  the  party  by  whom  he  was  supported,  that  he 
received  the  nomination  for  re-election,  but  was  defeated  by 
a  small  majority.  Upon  retiring  from  office,  he  entered  upon 
an  active  business  life,  and  was  engaged  at  different  periods 
in  the  manufacture  of  iron,  boring  for  salt,  the  production  of 
oil  from  bituminous  shales,  and  latterly  in  refining  petro- 
leum. Under  his  presidency  the  Alleghany  Valley  Railroad 
was  constructed  from  Pittsburg  to  the  town  of  Kittanning. 
During  the  rebellion  he  took  an  active  part  in  organizing 
troops,  and  as  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Pub- 
lic Safety,  superintended  the  construction  of  the  defences  at 
Pittsburg.  In  connection  with  Mr.  John  Harper,  he  became 
responsible  for  the  ammunition  which  was  sent  to  West  Vir- 
ginia at  a  critical  juncture  in  the  fortunes  of  that  State,  and 
which  materially  aided  in  preserving  it  from  being  overrun 
by  the  rebels.  He  was  appointed  by  President  Andrew 
Johnson  collector  of  the  port  of  Philadelphia,  the  duties  of 
which  office  he  for  several  months  discharged ;  but  through 
the  hostility  of  a  majority  of  the  Senate  to  the  President,  he 
was  rejected  by  that  body,  though  ample  testimony  \\as  given 
that  the  office  was  faithfully  and  impartially  administered. 

He  was  married  on  the  12th  of  April,  1832,  to  Miss  Mary 
Monteith.  The  offspring  of  this  marriage  were  five  sons  and 
two  daughters.  Governor  Johnston  died  at  Pittsburg,  Octo- 
ber 25,  1872,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 


WILLIAM  BIGLER, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1838. 

January  20,  1852,  to  January  16,  1855. 

WILLIAM  BIGLER  was  born  at  Shermansburg,  Cum- 
berland County,  Pennsylvania,  in  December,  1813. 
His  parents,  Jacob  Bigler  and  Susan  Dock,  sister  of  Judge 
Dock  of  Harrisburg,  were  of  German  descent,  and  were 
educated,  like  most  children  of  their  origin,  in  both  the 
German  and  English  tongues.  "While  very  young,  his  parents 
removed  to  Mercer  County,  having  purchased  a  large  tract 
of  wild  land,  in  the  hope  of  building  up  their  fortunes;  but 
the  title  proving  defective,  they  found  themselves  in  a  short 
time  bereft  of  everything  but  a  small  farm. 

The  maintenance  of  a  large  family  from  the  products  of 
land  scarcely  reclaimed  from  the  dominion  of  the  forest,  aided 
only  by  young  children,  imposed  upon  the  father  incessant 
and  exhausting  toil.  Anxiously  did  he  labor  to  provide  for 
their  daily  wants,  and  secure  the  means  for  future  com- 
petence. Taxed  beyond  his  strength,  his  system  soon  yielded 
to  the  inroads  of  disease,  and  he  passed  away,  leaving  a  widow 
and  children  to  wrestle  with  a  backwoods  life.  Could  he 
with  dying  vision  have  penetrated  the  future,  he  would  have 
beheld  two  of  his  sons,  for  whose  welfare  he  must  have  had 
great  concern,  filling  the  gubernatorial  chairs  of  two  of  the 
most  important  States  in  the  Union.  John,  the  eldest  son, 
being  Governor  of  California,  and  William  of  Pennsylvania; 
and,  shortly  afterwards,  one  holding  an  important  foreign 
mission,  and  the  other  a  Senator  of  the  United  States. 

Sorely  harassed  with  the  labor  .necessary  for  the  support 
of  the  family,  the  boys  received  only  the  common  -  school 

413 


414      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

education  obtainable  during  the  winter  months  in  a  rural 
district;  but  William  finally  graduated  from  an  institution 
well  adapted  to  the  practical  development  of  the  talents  of 
a  bright  boy  —  that  of  a  printing-office.  From  1830  to  1833 
he  was  employed,  by  his  brother  John,  in  the  office  of  the 
Centre  Democrat,  published  at  Bellefonte.  At  the  end  of  that 
period,  influenced  by  the  advice  of  his  friends,  among  whom 
was  Andrew  G.  Curtin,  since  governor  of  the  Common- 
wealth, he  decided,  though  not  without  many  misgivings,  to 
remove  to  Clearfield,  and  commence  the  publication  of  a 
political  paper.  He  possessed  energy,  industry,  regular 
habits,  and  good  natural  abilities;  but  he  had  no  printing- 
press,  no  material,  and,  what  was  more  disheartening,  no 
money.  Through  the  kind  consideration  of  friends,  he  was 
enabled  to  borrow  a  sufficient  sum  to  purchase  a  second-hand 
press  and  some  half-worn  type,  and  with  these  he  started  on 
his  lonely  journey,  to  establish,  as  he  used  afterwards  in  a 
jocular  spirit  to  characterize  it,  an  eight-by-ten  Jackson 
paper,  to  counteract  the  influence  of  a  seven-by-nine  Whig 
paper  which  had  preceded  him  into  that  mountainous 
region.  Trudging  along  on  foot  behind  the  two-horse  wagon 
freighted  with  the  implements  of  his  doubtful  venture,  the 
young  man  indulged  in  many  Discouraging  reflections  and 
sad  forebodings  of  the  fortune  that  was  to  await  him;  and 
when  arrived  at  the  summit  of  Mitchell's  Hill,  overlooking 
the  town  which  was  to  prove  his  Mecca,  his  heart  sank 
within  him,  and  so  depressed  were  his  spirits,  that  he  would 
have  abandoned  the  enterprise,  and  actually  proposed  to  the 
friend,  Gillespie,  who  accompanied  him,  to  drive  back  to 
Bellefonte  with  the  material,  and  deliver  it  to  its  owners,  and 
he  himself  would  go  West  on  foot.  But  the  horses  were 
jaded  and  must  be  fed,  and  necessity  took  them  forward. 

Upon  his  arrival,  his  doubts  and  misgivings  were  speedily 
removed ;  for,  though  he  had  the  acquaintance  of  but  two  or 
three  persons  in  the  whole  county,  the  cordial  welcome 
which  he  received,  and  the  generous  hospitality  extended  to 
him  on  every  hand,  made  him  feel  that  he  was  among  true 


WILLIAM  BIGLER.  415 

friends;  and  though  he  has  since  led  a  life  full  of  honors,  it 
is  doubtful  if  any  event  in  its  whole  course  is  capable  of  ex- 
citing so  much  genuine  delight,  as  the  recollection  of  his 
reception  at  Clearfield. 

Encouraged  by  the  light  and  warmth  thus  diffused,  he 
bent  vigorously  to  his  task,  and  in  a  few  days  the  Clearfidd 
Democrat  made  its  appearance.  It  was  an  insignificant  affair 
when  judged  by  the  newspapers  of  a  later  day;  but  it  was 
edited  with  spirit,  and  was  devoted  to  the  special  purpose  of 
lauding  the  virtues  of  Andrew  Jackson  and  the  policy  of  his 
school,  and  the  discomfiture  of  that  seven-by-nine  advocate 
of  Whiggery  which  was  sending  forth  its  pestilential  doc- 
trines. With  the  assistance  of  a  son  of  Thomas  Hemphill, 
then  a  leading  Democratic  politician  of  the  place,  Mr.  Bigler 
wrote  the  editorials,  set  the  type,  worked  the  press,  and 
dispatched  the  paper.  But  notwithstanding  his  industry  and 
economy,  and  the  generous  assistance  of  friends,  his  income 
afforded  him  but  a  scanty  support.  He  was,  however,  by  its 
publication  necessarily  carried  into  a  participation  in  the 
politics  of  the  State  and  the  nation,  and  he  rapidly  gained 
a  reputation  for  sagacity,  sound  judgment,  and  above  all 
for  sincerity  of  purpose,  which  soon  brought  him  public 
consideration.  His  kindly  bearing  towards  even  political 
opponents  made  him  a  favorite ;  besides,  he  was  a  real  back- 
woodsman, was  a  good  hunter,  and  the  best  marksman  with 
a  rifle  in  all  the  country,  —  accomplishments,  which  in  those 
days  by  no  means  detracted  from  his  influence  as  a  political 
leader. 

In  1836,  Mr.  Bigler  was  married  to  Maria  J.,  daughter  of 
Alexander  B.  Reed,  of  Clearfield.  A  native  of  the  place, 
genial  in  manners,  full  of  true  charity  and  womanly  affection, 
possessed  of  remarkable  equanimity  of  mind  and  firmness  of 
purpose,  she  was  everywhere  a  favorite.  Though  making  no 
pretensions  to  the  accomplishments  of  fashionable  life,  she 
has  proved  herself  a  true  lady,  an  affectionate  wife  and 
mother,  and  a  devout  Christian.  The  marriage  was  a  happy 
one,  and  the  offspring  were  five  sons,  three  of  whom  survive. 


416      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

Soon  after  his  marriage  Mr.  Bigler  disposed  of  his  paper 
and  entered  into  partnership  with  his  father-in-law  in  mer- 
cantile business.  He  engaged  in  his  new.  pursuit  with  his 
usual  industry  and  energy,  and  in  a  brief  period  placed  him- 
self in  the  front  rank  of  the  merchants  and  dealers  in  lumber 
in  that  section.  From  1845  to  1850  he  was  by  far  the  largest 
producer  of  lumber,  or  square  timber,  on  the  West  Branch 
of  the  Susquehanna  River.  But  his  previous  active  partici- 
pation in  politics,  and  his  well-known  views  ©republic  ques- 
tions, kept  him  prominently  before  the  people.  He  was  an 
ardent  advocate  of  a  convention  to  amend  the  State  Consti- 
tution, and  was  presented  from  his  county  as  a  delegate  to 
that  body,  but  he  declined  to  be  a  candidate. 

In  1841  he  was  nominated  for  the  State  Senate,  and  though 
much  to  his  pecuniary  disadvantage,  he  being  then  exten- 
sively engaged  in  the  lumber  trade,  which  demanded  his  ex- 
clusive attention,  he  reluctantly  accepted  the  nomination. 
The  district  was  composed  of  the  counties  of  Armstrong,  In- 
diana, Cambria,  and  Clearfield,  and  he  was  elected  by  a 
majority  of  over  three  thousand.  Though  opposed  by  a  regu- 
larly nominated  candidate  of  the  Whig  party,  he  received 
every  vote  in  Clearfield  County  save  one,  a  result  unprece- 
dented in  the  history  of  politics.  In  after  time,  as  he  became 
involved  in  partisan  strife,  many  were  the  claimants  for  the 
honor  of  casting  that  one  vote ;  but  none  could  disturb  the 
title  of  George  Atchison,  an  original  Abolitionist.  The  term 

of  service  upon  which  he  now  entered  covered  a  period  of 

A>  .  .  . 

unusual   difficulty  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the 

State.  The  failure  of  the  United  States.  Bank,  and  the  Bank 
of  Pennsylvania  with  the  funds  of  the  State  on  deposit,  caused 
a  stringency  in  monetary  affairs,  and  prevented  the  payment 
of  the  interest  on  the  public  debt  which  was  now  swollen  to 
enormous  proportions.  Trade  aud  commerce  were  paralyzed, 
and  the  murmurs  of  deep  discontent  were  heard  suggesting 
repudiation  as  the  only  alternative.  In  the  struggle  which 
ensued  in  the  Legislature  upon  this  subject,  Mr.  Bigler  took 
an  active  part,  resisting  at  every  step  the  approaches  to  so 


WILLIAM  BIGLER.  417 

base  a  proposal,  and  vindicating  with  great  energy  the  honor 
and  integrity  of  the  Commonwealth.  His  speech  upon  the 
question  of  resumption  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  was 
received  with  great  favor,  and  John  Strohm,  then  a  senator 
from  Lancaster,  approached  him  at  its  conclusion  and  said  : 
"  Young  man,  that  speech  will  make  you  Governor  of  Penn- 
sylvania, if  you  behave  yourself  well  hereafter." 

He  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  Senate  in  the  spring  of  1843, 
was  re-elected  at  the  opening  of  the  session  of  1844 ;  and  in 
October  following  was  returned  for  a  second  term.  Mr.  Biff- 

cy  O 

ler  did  not  desire  again  to  be  a  candidate ;  and  so  disinclined 
was  he  to  continuing  in  public  life,  that  he  had  instructed  the 
delegates  from  Clearfied  to  the  nominating  convention  to 
withdraw  his  name,  which  they  did ;  but  the  delegates  from 
the  other  counties  composing  the  district  conferred  the  nomi- 
nation on  him  notwithstanding,  and  he  was  elected  by  a  vote 
much  larger  than  the  regular  party  vote. 

The  question  of  railroad  communication  between  Philadel- 
phia and  Pittsburg  came  before  the  Legislature  during  his 
second  term  in  the  Senate,  and  excited  absorbing  interest. 
The  people  of  Philadelphia,  and  especially  the  capitalists,  ap- 
plied for  a  charter  to  construct  a  road  between  the  two  cities, 
wholly  within  the  limits  of  the  State.  The  people  of  Pitts- 
burg,  on  the  other  hand,  holding  that  a  direct  route  across  the 
Alleghany  Mountains  was  impracticable,  and  that  the  Phila- 
delphians  were  insincere  in  their  advocacy  of  the  work,  in- 
sisted on  granting  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  Com- 
pany the  right  to  extend  that  road  through  the  western 
counties  of  the  State  to  their  city,  upon  the  theory  that  for 
all  time  to  come  the  only  railroad  communication  between 
the  two  extremities  of  Pennsylvania  should  lie  through  the 
States  of  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia.  The  contest  over 
the  two  projects  soon  became  animated,  attracting  to  the 
capital  many  influential  men  from  all  parts  of  the  Common- 
wealth interested  in  the  result.  The  sentiment  in  Mr.  Big- 
ler's  district  was  divided,  but  he  earnestly  advocated  the  road 
through  the  State.  He  did  not  believe  the  route  to  be  im- 

O 

'27 


418      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  0^1838. 

practicable,  and  he  had  great  faith  in  the  improvements  prom- 
ised in  the  motive  power  on  railroads,  which  has  since  come 
to  be  realized.  The  contest  was  finally  settled  by  the  adop- 
tion of  a  proposition  which  he  himself  offered,  that  if  a  bona- 
jide  subscription  of  three  millions  of  dollars  was  not  made 
and  paid  towards  the  construction  of  the  Pennsylvania  Cen- 
tral road  on  or  before  the  first  of  the  ensuing  June,  then  the 
act  granting  the  right  of  way  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Com- 
pany should  become  of  effect,  otherwise  it  should  be  null 
and  void.  Pending  the  passage  of  the  bill,  Mr.  Bigler  made 
an  elaborate  speech,  showing  the  feasibilities  of  the  route,  the 
advantages  of  a  road  through  the  very  heart  of  the  State,  and 
estimates  of  its  prospective  business.  At  the  time  these 
were  regarded  as  visionary,  but  now  appear  ridiculous  by 
their  insignificance  compared  with  what  has  been  already 
realized. 

At  the  time  that  the  subject  was  under  discussion  in  the 
Legislature,  the  people  of  Freeport,  Armstrong  County,  a 
part  of  his  senatorial  district,  not  well  understanding  the 
merits  of  the  two  propositions,  and  believing  that  unless  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Company  was  allowed  to  build,  no  road 
would  ever  be  constructed,  held  a  public  meeting  and  ap- 
pointed one  of  their  number,  Philip  Klingensmith,  a  strong- 
minded,  honest  Pennsylvania  German,  to  go  to  Harrisburg, 
and  endeavor  to  win  Mr.  Bigler  to  the  support  of  their  views. 
He  proceeded  on  his  journey,  had  several  interviews  with 
the  Senator,  and  finally  returned  to  Freeport.  As  the 
canal-boat  which  bore  him  homeward  neared  the  landing, 
Philip  beheld  the  beach  lined  with  his  constituents,  all  eager 
to  learn  the  result  of  his  mission.  Without  waiting  to  salute 
them,  he  began  to  denounce  the  whole  party,  first  in  German 
and  then  in  English,  as  a  set  of  d — d  fools,  and  enemies  to 
their  country ;  said  that  Bigler  was  all  right,  and  so  was  he, 
and  that,  as  for  the  Ohio  company,  it  had  better  stay  where 
it  was. 

In  his  speech,  Mr.  Bigler  pointed  out,  link  by  link,  the 
great  feeder  to  the  Pennsylvania  road,  now  known  as  the 


WILLIAM  BIGLER.  419 

Tyrone  and  Clear-field  Railroad,  and  which  has  recently  been 
completed,  mainly  under  his  directorship.  Time  has  thus 
verified  his  prediction,  made  twenty-two  years  ago,  when  the 
charter  even  of  the  main  line  had  not  been  secured.  He  was 
also  the  early  and  zealous  advocate  of  the  Philadelphia  and 
Erie  Railroad,  as  appears  by  reference  to  numerous  speeches, 
and  resolutions  which  he  supported,  and  by  his  messages  to 
the  Legislature. 

In  1848,  his  name  was  presented  as  a  candidate  for  Gov- 
ernor, and  he  received  a  large  vote  in  the  Democratic  nominat- 
ing convention  of  that  year;  but  tbe  choice  fell  upon  Morris 
Longstreth,  then  a  Canal  Commissioner,  who  was  defeated 
by  William  F.  Johnston.  In  1849,  Mr.  Bigler  was  appointed 
one  of  the  Revenue  Commissioners,  whose  duty  it  was  to  ad- 
just the  amount  to  be  raised  by  taxation  in  the  different  sec- 
tions and  Counties  of  the  State. 

In  1851,  he  was  nominated  for  Governor  by  acclamation, 
and  was  elected  after  a  warmly  contested  canvass,  by  a  good 
majority.  The  contest  with  Mr.  Johnston,  the  opposing  can- 
didate, though  conducted  with  courtesy  and  frankness,  was 
one  of  unprecedented  energy.  It  was  kept  up  without  respite 
from  August  to  the  day  of  election  in  October,  both  candi- 
dates exhibiting  unusual  tact  and  ability,  and  wonderful 
powers  of  physical  endurance.  In  addition  to  subjects  of" 
State  policy,  the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves  under  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  the  question  of 
slavery  in  the  Territories,  were  more  or  less  involved.  Mr. 
Bigler  unqualifiedly  maintained  the  laws  of  Congress  for  the 
return  of  slaves,  and  the  equal  rights  of  the  citizens  of  all 
the  States  in  the  Territories,  whatever  might  be  the  character 
of  their  property,  including  property  in  slaves. 

By  a  remarkable  coincidence  his  own  election  as  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania  was  simultaneous  with  the  election  of  his 
elder  brother  John,  to  the  same  dignity  in  the  new  State  of 
California. 

Governor  Bigler's  administration  was  characterized  by 
many  of  the  virtues  of  the  old-time  Governors,  especially 


420      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

maintaining  rigid  economy  and  strict  accountability  in  the 
use  of  the  public  moneys.  A  system  of  legislation  had 
grown  up,  known  as  "  log-rolling  "  or  "  omnibus  legislation/' 
which  had  become  exceedingly  demoralizing.  It  was  only 
necessary  to  unite  a  bad  project  with  a  number  of  good  ones 
in  one  heterogeneous  bill  to  secure  its  passage.  In  his  message 
to  the  Legislature  of  1854,  the  Governor  said :  "  After  much 
reflection  on  the  magnitude  of  this  evil  —  its  vexatious  in- 
roads upon  private  rights,  and  its  demoralizing  tendency 
upon  the  interests  of  the  people,  as  upon  the  more  elevated 
purposes  of  legislation,  I  have  determined  to  co-operate  with 
the  General  Assembly  in  the  application  of  the  most  efficient 
means  which  their  wisdom  may  devise  for  its  removal ;  but 
in  the  mean  time,  as  a  restraining  part  of  the  law-making 
power,  I  must  beg  to  be  indulged  in  claiming  the  privilege 
of  considering  each  subject  of  legislation  separately,  and  on 
its  merits,  as  contemplated  by  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution. 
Henceforth,  therefore,  bills  containing  a  variety  of  subjects 
of  legislation,  dissimilar  in  their  character  and  purposes,  can- 
not receive  the  sanction  of  the  present  Executive."  This 
firm  stand  taken  by  the  Governor  had  the  desired  effect.  A 
law  wras  passed  forbidding  the  passage  of  any  act  which  did 
not  fully  state  in  its  title  the  subject-matter,  and  which  con- 
'tained  more  than  one  subject,  thus  breaking  down  forever 
this  most  pernicious  system. 

He  resisted  with  a  firm  hand  the  wholesale  chartering  of 
banks,  vetoing  eleven  such  acts  in  one  message,  and  sending 
in  thirty  similar  messages  during  a  single  session. 

His  views  respecting  the  revision  of  the  organic  law  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  same  message  as  that  above  quoted  are  notably 
sound  and  practical.  "  I  have  never,"  he  says,  "  felt  willing 
to  see  our  fundamental  law  changed  for  light  or  doubtful 
reasons,  but  I  sincerely  believe  that  when  the  proper  time  ar- 
rives it  will  be  wise  so  to  amend  the  Constitution  as  to  require 
that  each  law  shall  be  passed  in  a  separate  bill,  and  receive 
not  less  than  a  majority  of  votes  of  each  House  on  a  call  of 
the  yeas  and  nays ;  to  provide  that  all  laws  of  a  public  nature 


WILLIAM  B1GLER.  421 

shall  be  general  in  their  character  and  apply  to  the  entire 
State ;  that  municipal  corporations,  vested  with  all  the  power 
the  Legislature  could  confer,  should  not  have  the  right  to  be- 
come subscribers  to,  or  holders  of  the  stock  of  other  corpora- 
tions; to  interdict  the  creation  of  debt  for  any  purpose  ex- 
cept war;  to  unite  some  other  functionary  with  the  Gov- 
ernor in  the  exercise  of  the  pardoning  power." 

In  March,  1854,  he  was  again  unanimously  nominated  for 
Governor,  and  entered  upon  another  laborious  campaign; 
but  his  health  failed,  and  he  lay  sick  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  State  during  most  of  the  canvass.  He  was  defeated  by 
the  Native  American  party  by  a  large  majority.  His  resist- 
ance to  this  organization  was  unqualified,  zealous,  and  deter- 
mined beyond  his  usual  bearing  in  partisan  politics.  He  did 
himself  less  justice  in  the  attitude  he  occupied  towards  the 
famous  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  which  was  largely  involved  in 
the  canvass;  for,  while  he  accepted  it  as  the  measure  of  his 
party,  it  was  well  known  that  his  individual  judgment  was 
against  it,  and  that  he  was  urgent  in  his  appeals  to  Judge 
Douglas,  who  was  a  leading  power  in  Congress,  to  adhere  to 
his  original  bill,  which  asserted  the  right  of  the  people  of  a 
territory  to  regulate  its  domestic  affairs,  including  the  right 
to  hold  slaves,  but  left  the  Missouri  Compromise  undisturbed. 

In  January,  1855,  but  a  few  days  after  the  expiration  of* 
his  gubernatorial  term,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Phila- 
delphia and  Erie  Railroad  Company,  in  which  capacity  he 
evinced  his  usual  energy  and  industry,  and  contributed 
largely  to  bringing  its  affairs  to  a  healthy  condition.  lie  was 
also,  in  January,  1855,  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  where  he  served  for  six  years.  At  the  end  of  two 
years  Mr.  Buchanan  became  President,  and  the  importunities 
for  office  were  exceedingly  harassing — Mr.  Bigler,  on  account 
of  his  supposed  influence  with  the  President,  being  charged 
with  a  large  share  of  responsibility  for  the  appointments. 
Divisions  also  occurred  in  the  Democratic  party  upon  the 
subject  of  the  Kansas  troubles,  in  which  he  was  pitted  against 
Judge  Douglas,  a  man  unsurpassed  in  tact  and  ability.  So 


422      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

solicitous  had  Mr.  Bigler  become  for  a  settlement  of  this 
vexed  question,  that,  in  1857,  he  travelled  over  the  greater 
part  of  Kansas,  urging  the  friends  of  a  free  State  to  unite  in 
the  election  of  delegates  to  a  convention  for  framing  a  State 
Constitution,  and  secure  a  majority  of  members  favorable  to 
their  views;  but  they  held  themselves  aloof,  and  he  maintained 
that  they  had  thereby  authorized  those  who  did  vote  to  act 
for  them,  and  were  bound  by  the  result.  That  he  acted  from 
pure  motives  there  can  be  no  doubt,  though  his  course  was 
not  vindicated  by  subsequent  events. 

When,  after  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  became  apparent 
that  secession  would  be  attempted,  Mr.  Bigler  was  untiring 
in  his  efforts  to  secure  an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  national 
troubles.  He  acted  with  Mr.  Crittenden  in  his  efforts  to  se- 
cure a  compromise,  and  held  that  the  people  of  the  Southern 
States  could  have  no  reasonable  plea  for  resorting  to  violence 
until  they  had  first  exhausted  all  peaceful  means  for  the  ad- 
justment of  their  grievances.  In  the  course  of  an  elaborate 
speech  upon  the  subject  in  the  Senate,  in  February,  1861,  he 
said  :  "  As  for  secession,  I  am  utterly  against  it.  I  deny  the 
right,  and  I  abhor  the  consequences;  but  I  shall  indulge  in 
no  argument  on  that  point.  It  is  no  remedy  for  any  one  of 
the  evils  lamented,  and  in  my  judgment  it  will  aggravate 
rather  than  remove  them,  and,  in  addition,  superinduce  others 
of  a  more  distressing  and  destructive  character." 

He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  of  thirteen,  to  which 
was  referred  the  famous  compromise  propositions  of  Mr. 
Crittenden,  and  throughout  sustained  their  adoption.  He 
also  presented  and  advocated  a  bill  providing  for  submitting 
the  Crittenden  resolutions  to  a  vote  of  the  people  of  the 
several  States,  which  was  rejected,  but  which  hns  since  been 
regarded  by  sagacious  men  as  a  remedy  which  would  have 
utterly  crushed  secession.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Charles- 
ton Convention  of  1860,  where  he  took  decided  ground 
against  the  nomination  of  Judge  Douglas.  He  was  tempo- 
rary chairman  of  the  Democratic  convention  of  1864,  and 
voted  for  the  nomination  of  General  George  B.  McClellan. 


WILLIAM  BIGLER.  423 

lie  was  also  nominated  in  the  same  year  for  Congress,  and 
though  defeated  received  more  than  his  party  vote.  He  was 
again  a  delegate  to  the  Democratic  convention  of  1868,  which 
met  in  New  York. 

He  is  at  present  living  in  retirement  at  Clearfield,  though 
he  has  the  nomination  for  delegate  to  the  convention  which 
is  to  meet  for  the  revision  of  the  State  Constitution,  and  will 
doubtless  be  elected.  For  many  years  he  has  given  his 
time  and  energies  and  much  of  his  means  to  the  extension 
of  a  railroad  to  Clearfield,  and  to  the  erection  of  a  beautiful 
stone  church  for  the  first  Presbyterian  congregation  of  that 
place,  of  which  body  he  became  a  member  some  years  ago. 
Mr.  Bigler's  career  has  been  uniformly  marked  by  great 
energy  and  steadiness  of  purpose.  "Whatever  his  hands  found 
to  do  he  did  it  with  his  might.  Ceaseless  devotion  to  a  pub- 
lic trust  is  a  characteristic  that  has  been  accorded  to  him  by 
men  of  all  parties,  as  well  as  the  possession  of  superior  grasp 
of  mind  and  benevolence  of  heart 


.JAMES  POLLOCK, 

GOVERNOR    UNDER  THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1838.       • 

January  16,  1855,  to  January  19,  1858. 

TAMES  POLLOCK  was  born  in  the  borough  of  Milton, 
*J  Northumberland  County,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  llth  of 
September,  1810.  His  father,  William  Pollock,  was  an 
American  by  birth,  as  also  his  mother,  Sarah  Pollock,  who 
was  the  daughter  of  Fleming  Wilson,  and  was  born  in  Chester 
County,  Pennsylvania,  in  October,  1771.  His  paternal  and 
maternal  ancestors  emigrated  from  the  north  of  Ireland  to 
America  as  early  as  1760.  They  settled  in  Chester  County, 
and  were  the  open  and  avowed  friends  of  American  in- 
dependence during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  One  branch 
of  the  family  settled  in  North  Carolina;  and  some  of  its 
members  were  intimately  connected  with,  if  not  prime 
movers  in,  the  first  declaration  of  independence  at  Meck- 
lenburg, in  that  State.  They  were  there  known  by  the 
name  of  Polk,  an  abbreviation  of  Pollock,  the  original 
family  name.  His  father  died  in  May,  1817,  leaving  a 
widow  and  seven  children  —  four  sons  (of  whom  James  was 
the  youngest)  and  three  daughters.  With  an  energy  and 
determination  that  characterized  her  life,  the  mother  assumed 
at  once  the  responsible  duties  of  educating  her  children. 
She  was  a  woman  of  strong  intellect,  of  great  moral  courage, 
and  marked  devotional  spirit,  qualities  that  aided  in  forming 
and  moulding  the  character  of  her  children.  She  died  in 
Milton,  February  19th,  1865,  in  the  ninety  -  fourth  year  of 
her  age. 

The  boyhood  of  James,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
passed  principally  at  school.     His  first  teacher  was  Joseph 

424 


JAMES  POLLOCK.  425 

B.  Anthony,  afterwards  president-judge  of  the  eighth  judicial 
district,  of  whom  he  became  the  successor  in  the  same  office 
in  the  year  1850.  He  remained  in  the  school  of  Mr.  Anthony 
but  a  short  time,  and,  soon  after  leaving,  entered  the  Milton 
Classical  Academy  under  the  care  of  Rev.  David  Kirkpatrick. 
He  here  prepared  for,  and  entered  the  Junior  Class  in  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  at  Princeton,  and  graduated  aa 
Bachelor  of  Arts  with  the  highest  honors  of  his  class  in  Sep- 
tember, 1831.  In  1835,  he  received,  in  course,  the  degree  of 
A.  M.,  and  in  1855  his  Alma  Mater  conferred  upon  him  the 
honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  In  1857 '  the  trustees  of  Jef- 
ferson College,  Pennsylvania,  bestowed  upon  him  the  like 
honor. 

After  his  graduation  he  entered,  as  a  student  of  law,  the 
office  of  Samuel  Hepburn,  a  gentleman  of  eminent  legal 
learning,  in  his  native  town,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
the  several  Courts  of  Northumberland  County  in  November, 
1833.  In  April,  1834,  he  opened  an  office  in  Milton,  and 
was  successful  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1835  he 
was  appointed  District  Attorney  for  Northumberland  County, 
which  office  he  held  for  three  years. 

He  was  married  on  the  19th  day  of  December,  1837,  to 
Miss  Sarah  Ann,  daughter  of  Samuel  Hepburn.  He  held  a 
number  of  important  civil  offices.  He  was  a  Whig  in  politics, 
but  notwithstanding  this,  he  was,  in  1844,  elected  a  member 
of  Congress  from  the  Thirteenth  Congressional  District,  then 
strongly  Democratic,  and  was  twice  re-elected  from  the  same 
district,  holding  the  office  for  six  years.  As  a  member  of 
some  of  the  most  important  committees,  he  contributed 
largely  to  the  general  work  of  legislation.  In  the  Twenty- 
eighth  Congress  he  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Claims,  and  his  numerous  reports  attest  the  extent  and 
quality  of  his  labors.  In  the  Twenty-ninth  Congress  he 
was  on  the  Committee  on  Territories,  of  which  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  was  chairman.  To  this  committee  were  referred  all 
bills  relating  to  the  organization  of  new  territories;  and  the 
question  of  excluding  slaver;  therefrom  was  often  presented. 


426      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

• 

warmly  debated,  and  generally  determined  in  favor  of  exclu- 
sion. It  was  evident  from  the  tone  and  temper  of  the  dis 
cussions  in  committee  and  in  Congress  that  a  crisis  was  ap- 
proaching. The  reports  from  this  committee  gave  direction 
and  force  to  public  sentiment.  The  discussions  increased  in 
warmth  and  bitterness,  and  finally  culminated  in  attempted 
secession,  revolution,  and  war,  the  sequel  to  all  which  was  the 
triumph  of  the  National  cause  and  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
During  the  Thirtieth  Congress  he  was  an  active  member  of 
the  Committee  of  "Ways  and  Means,  of  which  Samuel  F. 
Vinton,  of  Ohio,  was  chairman.  The  country  was  then 
engaged  in  a  war  with  Mexico,  and  in  consequence  the 
business  of  the  committee  was  greatly  augmented.  The  duties 
of  the  place  were  onerous  and  responsible,  but  were  fully  and 
faithfully  discharged. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  1848,  Mr.  Pollock  offered  a  resolution 
for  the  appointment  of  a  special  committee  to  inquire  into 
the  necessity  and  practicability  of  constructing  a  railroad  to 
the  Pacific  coast;  As  chairman  of  that  committee  he  made 
a  report  to  the  House  in  favor  of  the  construction  of  such 
a  road.  The  report  may  be  found  in  the  third  volume  of  the 
Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives  for  the  first  session 
of  the  Thirtieth  Congress.  This  was  the  first  favorable  official 
act  on  this  subject  on  the  part  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States.  The  report  discusses  the  question  in  its  international 
and  domestic  aspects,  its  feasibility,  and  probable  results. 
The  opening  paragraph  is  in  these  words :  "  The  proposition 
at  first  view  is  a  startling  one.  The  magnitude  of  the  work 
itself,  and  the  still  greater  and  more  magnificent  results 
promised  by  its  accomplishment  —  that  of  revolutionizing 
morally  and  commercially,  if  not  politically,  a  greater  part 
of  the  habitable  globe,  and  making  the  vast  commerce  of  the 
world  tributary  to  us  —  almost  overwhelm  the  mind.  But 
your  committee,  on  examination,  find  it  a  subject  as  simple 
as  it  is  vast  and  magnificent,  and  see  no  insurmountable  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  its  successful  accomplishment." 

A  bill  accompanied  the  report,  and  was  referred  to  the 


JAMES  POLLOCK.  42? 

• 

Committee  of  the  Whole,  but  no  further  action  was  taken  on 
it  at  that  time,  and  Mr.  Pollock  soon  after  left  Congress. 
In  the  fall  of  1848,  however,  he  delivered  a  lecture  on  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  by  invitation,  to  a  crowded  house,  at  Lewis- 
burg,  Union  County,  closing  with  the  following  remark: 
"  At  the  risk  of  being  considered  insane,  I  will  venture  the 
prediction,  that  in  less  than  twenty-five  years  from  this  even- 
ing, a  railroad  will  be  completed  and  in  operation  between 
New  York  and  San  Francisco,  California;  that  a  line  of 
steamships  will  be  established  between  San  Francisco,  Japan, 
and  China;  and  there  are  now  in  my  audience,  ladies  who 
will,  before  the  expiration  of  the  period  named,  drink  tea 
brought  from  China  and  Japan,  by  this  route,  to  their  own 
doors !  "  This  prophetic  announcement  was  received  by  the 
audience  with  a  smile  of  good-natured  incredulity ;  Jbut  some 
of  those  very  ladies,  during  the  year  1869,  were  able  to  sip 
their  favorite  beverage  in  exact  accordance  with  the  terms  of 
the  speaker's  prediction !  On  the  10th  of  May,  1869,  the 
last  rail  was  laid,  the  last  spike  driven,  and  the  great  Pacific 
Railway,  so  long  in  embryo,  became  an  accomplished  fact ! 

The  subjects  of  special  interest  during  his  Congressional 
term  of  service  were  the  annexation  of  Texas,  the  Mexican 
war,  the  acquisition  of  California,  the  repeal  of  the  Tariff 
Act  of  1842,  and  the  "  Wilmot  Proviso  "  in  its  application 
to  the  newly  acquired  Territories  of  the  United  States.  In 
all  the  discussions  on  these  exciting  topics  he  took  an  active 
part.  His  speeches  and  votes  demonstrate  the  consistency  of 
his  views,  and  the  breadth  and  soundness  of  his  under- 
standing. 

In  1850  he  was  appointed  President-Judge  of  the  eighth 
judicial  district,  composed  of  the  counties  of  Northumber- 
land, Montour,  Columbia,  Lycoming,  and  Sullivan.  He  held 
the  office  until  the  amendment  of  the  Constitution  required 
the  election  of  judges  by  the  people.  He  declined  a  nomina- 
tion for  the  position,  and,  on  leaving  the  Bench,  resumed  the 
practice  of  the  law. 

In  1854  he  was  nominated,  and  elected  by  a  large  majority, 


428      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  inaugurated  in  January, 
1855.  He  held  the  office  for  one  term,  having  refused  to  per- 
mit his  name  to  be  used  as  a  candidate  for  renomination. 

Throughout  his  entire  term  of  office,  the  subject  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the  introduction  of 
slavery  into  the  territories  was  warmly  agitated,  and  it  be- 
came the  duty  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  one  of  the  most 
influential  States  in  the  Union  .to  speak  for  the  millions  of 
people  whom  he  represented.  That  duty  he  performed  in  a 
manner  that  admitted  of  no  equivocal  interpretation.  In  his 
Inaugural  Address  he  said  :  "  Pennsylvania,  occupying  as 
she  docs  an  important  and  proud  position  in  the  sisterhood 
of  States,  cannot  be  indifferent  to  the  policy  and  acts  of  the 
national  government.  Her  voice,  potential  for  good  in  other 
days,  ought  not  to  be  disregarded  now.  Devoted  to  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Union, —  as  she  was  the  first  to  sanction, 
she  will  be  the  last  to  endanger  the  one  or  violate  the  other. 
Regarding  with  jealous  care  the  rights  of  her  sister  States, 
she  will  be  ever  ready  to  defend  her  own.  To  the  Con- 
stitution in  all  its  integrity,  to  the  Union  in  its  strength  and 
harmony,  to  the  maintenance  in  its  purity,  of  the  faith  and 
hoaor  of  our  country,  Pennsylvania  now  is  and  always  has 
been  pledged  —  a  pledge  never  violated,  and  not  to  be 
violated,  until  patriotism  ceases  to  be  a  virtue,  and  liberty  to 
be  known  only  as  a  name.  .  .  .  With  no  desire  to  restrain 
the  full  and  entire  Constitutional  rights  of  the  States,  nor  to 
interfere  directly  or  indirectly  with  their  domestic  institu- 
tions, the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  in  view  of  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  the  principle  involved  in  it,  and 
the  consequences  resulting  from  it,  as  marked  already  by 
fraud,  violence,  and  strife,  have  reaffirmed  their  opposition 
to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  territory  now  free,  and  re- 
newed their  pledge  l  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Act  of  1780, 
which  relieved  us,  by  Constitutional  means,  from  a  grievous 
social  evil;  to  the  great  ordinance  of  1787,  in  its  full  scope, 
and  all  its  beneficial  principles;  to  the  protection  of  the  per- 
sona1 rights  of  ever>"  human  being  under  the  Constitution  of 


JAMES  POLLOCK,  429 

Pennsylvania  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  by 
maintaining  inviolate  the  trial  by  jury,  and  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus;  to  the  assertion  of  the  due  rights  of  the  North,  as 
well  as  of  the  South,  and  to  the  integrity  of  the  Union.' 
The  declaration  of  these  doctrines  is  but  the  recognition  of 
the  fundamental  principles  of  freedom  and  human  rights. 
They  are  neither  new  nor  startling.  They  were  taught  by 
patriotic  fathers  at  the  watch-fires  of  our  country's  defenders, 
and  learned  amid  the  bloody  snows  of  Valley  Forge  and  the 
mighty  throes  of  war  and  revolution.  They  were  stamped 
with  indelible  impress  upon  the  great  charter  of  our  rights, 
and  embodied  in  the  legislation  of  the  best  and  purest  days 
of  the  Republic;  have  filled  the  hearts  and  fell  burning  from 
the  lips  of  orators  and  statesmen,  whose  memories  are  im- 
mortal as  the  principles  they  cherished.  They  have  been  the 
watchword  and  the  hope  of  millions  who  have  gone  before 
us,  and  the  watchword  and  the  hope  of  millions  now,  and 
will  be  of  millions  yet  unborn." 

Again,  in  his  message  of  January  7th,  1857,  he  said :  "  To 
the  policy  and  acts  of  the  National  Government,  affecting,  as 
they  do,  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  Commonwealth,  the 
people  of  the  State  cannot  be  indifferent.  Pennsylvania, 
occupying  a  high  and  conservative  position  in  the  sisterhood 
of  States,  devoted  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  in  their 
integrity  and  harmony,  has  been,  and  will  ever  be,  as  ready 
to  recognize  the  rights  of  her  sister  States  as  to  defend  her 
own.  These  sentiments  she  has  never  abandoned  —  these 
principles  she  has  never  violated.  .  .  .  Freedom  is  the  great 
centre-truth  of  American  Republicanism  —  the  great  law  of 
American  nationality ;  slavery  is  the  exception.  It  is  local 
and  sectional ;  and  its  extension  beyond  the  jurisdiction 
creating  it,  or  to  the  free  territories  of  the  Union,  was  never 
designed  or  contemplated  by  the  patriot  founders  of  the 
Republic.  In  accordance  with  these  sentiments,  Pennsyl- 
vania, true  to  the  principles  of  the  Act  of  1780,  which  abol- 
ished slavery  within  her  territorial  limits,  true  to  the  great 
doctrines  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  which  dedicated  to  free- 


430    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

dom  the  Northwestern  territory  of  the  Union,  true  to  the 
national  faith  and  national  honor,  asks  and  expects,  as  due 
to  her  own  citizens  who  have,  in  good  faith,  settled  in  the 
Territory  of  Kansas,  and  as  due  to  the  industry  and  energy 

of  a  free  people,  that  Kansas  should  be  free The  union' 

of  the  States  which  constitutes  us  one  people,  should  be  dear 
to  you  —  to  every  American  citizen.  In  the  heat  and  excite- 
ment of  political  contests,  in  the  whirl  of  sectional  and  con- 
flicting interests,  amid  the  surging  of  human  passions,  harsh 
and  discordant  voices  may  be  heard,  threatening  its  integrity 
and  denouncing  its  doom ;  but  in  the  calm,  '  sober,  second 
thought '  of  a  patriotic  and  virtuous  people  will  be  found  its 
security  and  defence Pennsylvania  tolerates  no  senti- 
ment of  disunion.  She  knows  not  the  word The  Union 

and  the  Constitution,  the  safeguard  and  bond  of  American 
nationality,  will  be  revered  and  defended  by  every  American 
freeman  who  cherishes  the  principles  and  honors  the  memory 
of  the  illustrious  founders  of  the  Republic." 

Among  the  most  important  measures  of  his  administration 
were  the  adoption  of  a  policy  by  which  the  reduction  of  the 
public  debt  was  commenced,  and  nearly  two  millions  of  dol- 
lars paid;  the  sale  of  the  main  line  of  the  "public  works"  to 
the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railroad  Company  for  $7,500,000, 
which  sum  was  made  applicable  to  the  payment  and  reduc- 
tion of  the  debt  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  which,  added  to 
the  sum  actually  paid,  reduced  the  debt,  practically,  nearly 
ten  millions  of  dollars ;  a  series  of  acts  by  which  increased 
vigor  and  efficiency  were  given  to  the  system  of  common 
schools ;  retrenchment  and  reform  in  the  various  depart- 
ments ;  and  economy  in  the  general  administration  of  the 
Government. 

In  the  fall  of  1857  occurred  a  financial  crisis  which  led  to 
the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  of  the  State, 
and  threatened  every  branch  of  industry  with  serious  derange- 
ment and  injury.  To  avert  impending  evils,  an  extra  session 
of  the  Legislature  was  called,  which  convened  in  October  of 
that  year.  On  the  recommendation  of  the  Governor,  the 


JAMES  POLLOCK.  431 

suspension  was  legalized  for  a  definite  period,  the  forfeiture 
of  the  charters  of  the  respective  banks  prevented,  and  other 
measures  adopted  which  allayed  the  public  apprehension, 
saved  the  credit  of  the  State,  and  removed  the  dangers  to 
which  the  general  prosperity  had  been  exposed. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  official  term,  Governor  Pollock 
resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  place  of  his 
nativity.  On  leaving  Harrisburg  for  his  home,  both  Houses 
of  the  Legislature  adjourned,  and,  headed  by  their  respective 
speakers  and  officers,  accompanied  him  to  the  cars  which 
bore  him  away.  The  parting  with  all,  without  distinction  of 
party,  was  as  of  abiding  and  cherished  friends.  The  scene 
was  significant  and  impressive. 

In  1860,  at  the  time  of  greatest  impending  peril,  and  before 
hostilities  had  opened  between  the  North  and  the  South,  an 
earnest  effort  was  made  by  the  friends  of  peace  and  concilia- 
tion to  settle  all  causes  of  difference  by  means  of  friendly 
conference.  It  was  thought  by  bringing  together  a  body 
of  men  representing  the  several  States,  who  were  above 
selfish  and  ambitious  designs,  and  who  should  fairly  and 
freely  confer  with  each  Other,  that  a  basis  of  pacification 
could  be  adopted  which  would  avert  an  appeal  to  arms. 
For  this  purpose  representative  men  were  selected,  and 
Governor  Pollock  was  appointed  to  represent  Pennsylvania. 
This  body  met  in  Washington,  and  remained  in  session 
during  a  part  of  February  and  March.  A  plan  of  com- 
promise drawn  by  Mr.  Crittenden  was  adopted  by  the  confer- 
ence ;  but  it  failed  to  meet  the  approval  of  Congress,  being 
opposed  by  Representatives  of  both  the  North  and  the  South 
with  equal  resolution,  and  the  wager  by  battle  became  the 
only  alternative.  In  this  body  Governor  Pollock  bore  a  con- 
spicuous part. 

In  May,  1861,  he  was  appointed,  by  President  Lincoln, 
Director  of  the  United  States  Mint  at  Philadelphia,  and 
held  the  office  until  October  1st,  1866,  when,  on  the  ac- 
cession of  Andrew  Johnson  to  power,  he  resigned.  By  his 
efforts,  with  the  approval  of  Mr.  Chase,  then  Secretary  of  tho 


432      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

Treasury,  the  motto  "  In  God  we  trust "  was  placed  upon  the 
national  coins — -a  motto  of  deep  significance,  and  alike  hon- 
orable to  the  people  and  government  of  the  United  States. 
He  was  reinstated  in  1869,  by  President  Grant,  in  his  former 
position  as  Director  of  the  Mint,  which  office  he  now  (August, 
1872,)  holds. 

During  the  late  War  his  sympathies  and  labors  were  unre- 
servedly given  to  the  support  of  the  National  Government. 
Rebellion  found  no  advocate  in  him,  treason  no  friend. 
True  to  the  Union,  he  was  ever  ready  to  aid  in  its  defence ; 
true  to  liberty  and  humanity,  he  was  always  their  advocate ; 
true  to  his  country,  he  rejoiced  in  the  overthrow  of  its 
enemies,  and  in  the  assurance  of  its  triumph. 

In  appearance,  Governor  Pollock  is  of  commanding  person, 
rather  above  the  medium  height,  with  prominent  dark  eyes, 
and  a  face  beaming  with  intelligence  and  benignity.  In 
manner  he  is  cordial  and  frank.  As  a  public  speaker  he 
always  commands  attention,  not  less  by  the  soundness  of  his 
views,  than  by  the  force  and  eloquence  with  which  they  are 
expressed.  He  has  for  many  years  held  an  elevated  place  in 
public  estimation  by  his  zeal  in  promoting  educational  and 
religious  reforms. 

l 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OP    1838. 

January  19,  1858,  to  January  15,  1861. 

WILLIAM  FISHER  PACKER,  the  second  son  of  James 
and  Charity  Packer,  was  born  on  the  2d  day  of  April, 
1807,  in  Howard  township,  Centre  County,  Pennsylvania. 
His  father,  James  Packer,  born  in  1773,  was  a  native  of 
Chester  County,  and  a  son  of  James  Packer  and  Rose  Men- 
denhall.  James  Packer,  the  grandfather,  was  born  in  1725, 
in  New  Jersey,  at  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Princeton, 
and  was  a  son  of  Philip  Packer  and  Ann  Coates.  Philip 
Packer  was  an  English  Quaker,  and  among  the  first  emi- 
grants to  West  Jersey,  under  the  auspices  of  William  Penn 
and  other  leading  Friends  of  that  dav,  and  his  descendants 

»/   * 

adhered  to  the  same  religious  faith.  Rose  Mendenhall,  the 
grandmother,  was  a  daughter  of  Aaron  and  Rose  Menden- 
hall, and  was  born  in  the  Great  Valley,  near  Downingtown, 
Chester  County,  in  1733.  Chanty  Bye,  the  mother  of  the 
Governor,  was  born  in  Bucks  County,  in  1780.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Hezekiah  Bye  and  Sarah  Pettit,  who  were  also 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  Governor  Packer  was  descended  from  a  purely  Quaker 
ancestry,  among  whom  will  be  recognized  the  Coateses,  the 
Pettits,  the  Menderihalls,  and  others  —  names  still  familiar  in 
Philadelphia  arid  the  eastern  counties  of  Pennsylvania. 

When  the  Governor  was  but  seven  years  old  his  father 
died,  leaving  a  widow  and  five  small  children  —  the  eldest 
under  ten  years  of  age.  Bereft  of  paternal  care,  the  sons, 
Hezekiah  B.,  now  Judge  Packer,  of  Williamsport,  William 
F.,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  John  P.,  a  merchant  of 

28  433 


434      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

Flemington,  Clinton  County,  as  they  arrived  at  a  sufficient 
age,  applied  themselves  to  the  task  of  assisting  their  mother 
in  maintaining  the  family,  and  cheerfully  sustained  whatever 
hardships  their  situation  imposed,  receiving  at  the  same  time 
such  education  as  the  limited  facilities  of  the  country  schools 
of  that  time  afforded.  Directed  by  their  mother,  and  relying 
upon  their  own  resources  for  success,  it  is  no  marvel  that 
these  young  men  became  distinguished,  each  in  his  proper 
sphere,  in  after  life. 

In  1820,  Samuel  J.  Packer,  a  kinsman,  afterwards  a  State 
Senator  from  the  Northumberland  district,  was  publishing  a 
newspaper  at  Sunbury,  called  the  Public  Inquirer,  which 
advocated  with  great  ability  the  re-election  of  Governor 
"William  Findlay.  Ascertaining  that  he  could  obtain  a  place 
in  that  office  to  learn  the  art  of  printing,  "William  F.,  then  in 
his  thirteenth  year,  left  his  home  in  midwinter,  travelled 
alone  to  Sunbury,  a  distance  of  eighty  miles,  and  engaged 
himself  as  an  apprentice.  Upon  the  defeat  of  Governor 
Findlay,  the  Inquirer  was  discontinued,  and,  after  an  absence  of 
a  year,  he  returned  to  Centre  County,  where  he  completed  his 
apprenticeship  in  the  office  of  the  Bellefonte  Patriot,  then  under 
the  control  of  Henry  Petrikin,  who  subsequently  became  a 
distinguished  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  was  deputy 
secretary  of  the  Commonwealth  under  Governor  Shunk. 

After  the  expiration  of  his  apprenticeship,  in  1825,  he 
obtained  a  clerkship  in  the  office  of  the  Register  and  Recorder 
of  Lycoming  County ;  but,  at  the  commencement  of  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature,  in  December  of  the  same  year,  he 
went  to  Harrisburg  and  engaged  as  a  journeyman  printer  in 
the  office  of  the  Pennsylvania  Intelligencer,  published  by  Simon 
Cameron,  now  United  States  Senator,  and  David  Krause,  after- 
wards President  Judge  of  the  Bucks  County  district.  These 
gentlemen  had  just  previously  been  elected  public  printers. 
In  their  office  he  worked  for  two  years,  and  on  the  completion 
of  the  public  printing,  in  1827,  returned  to  Williamsport,  and 
entered  his  name  as  a  student- at-law  in  the  office  of  Joseph 
B.  Anthony,  who  afterwards  served  as  a  State  Senator,  mem- 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER.  435 

ber  of  Congress,  and  President  Judge  of  the  Lyconring 
district.  He  never  applied  for  admission  to  the  bar,  yet  the 
knowledge  thus  acquired  of  the  rudiments  of  the  profession 
was  of  inestimable  value  to  him  in  the  public  stations  which 
he  subsequently  filled. 

In  the  fall  of  1827  he  purchased  an  interest  in* the  Ly- 
eoming  Gazette,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  influential  news- 
papers in  the  State,  published  at  Williamsport,  and,  in 
partnership  with  John  Brandon,  conducted  the  paper  until 
1829,  when,  upon  the  demise  of  Mr.  Brandon,  he  assumed 
the  entire  control  of  the  establishment.  His  connection  with 
the  Gazette  continued  until  the  spring  of  1836,  when  he  left 
the  paper  in  a  flourishing  condition  and  with  a  commanding 
influence.  As  an  editor,  his  style  was  bold  and  energetic, 
well  calculated  to  command  attention  and  impress  his  ideas 
upon  the  reader. 

On  the  24th  of  December,  1829,  he  was  married  to  Mary 
W.,  daughter  of  Peter  W.  Vanderbelt,  an  honored  citizen  of 
Williamsport,  and  granddaughter  of  Michael  Ross.  Ten 
children  were  the  offspring  of  this  marriage,  six  of  whom 
are  still  living.  Mr.  Ross  was  a  gentleman  distinguished  for 
great  energy  of  character  and  strength  of  mind,  and  was  the 
original  owner  of  the  land  upon  which  the  present  city  of 
Williamsport  is  built. 

In  1831,  shortly  after  the  system  of  public  improvements 
had  been  commenced  in  Pennsylvania,  and  after  the  West 
Branch  Canal  had  been  adopted  as  a  part  of  the  system, 
through  the  votes  and  influence  of  the  representatives  from 
Philadelphia  in  making  appropriations  for  prosecution  of 
work,  this  line  was  omitted  and  was  thus  threatened  with 
abandonment.  Had  this  decision  been  adhered  to,  the  people 
of  that  section  of  the  State  would  have  been  deprived  of  a 
great  natural  line  of  communication  with  the  metropolis. 
Public  meetings  were  immediately  held,  addresses^  were 
delivered,  resolutions  adopted,  and,  among  other  strong 
measures,  a  direct  appeal  was  made  to  the  people  of  Philar 
delphia  against  the  suicidal  policy  of  their  own  members. 


-136      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

This  appeal  had  the  desired  effect ;  and  the  Philadelphia 
members,  under  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  them 
from  their  own  immediate  constituency,  retraced  their  steps, 
and  voted  for  appropriations  to  the  West  Branch  Canal.  In 
all  these  proceedings  Mr.  Packer,  although  a  very  young 
man,  bore  a  leading  part.  He  was  the  author  of  the  address 
to  the  people  of  Philadelphia,  and  to  his  efforts,  as  much  as 
to  those  of  any  other  individual,  are  the  people  of  that 
section  of  the  State  indebted  for  preserving  and  completing 
this  great  improvement.  As  work  upon  it  progressed,  the 
public  voice  very  properly  called  for  his  appointment  as 
superintendent  of  that  division ;  and  he  was  designated  by 
the  canal  commissioners,  in  June,  1832,  to  fill  that  respon- 
sible office.  It  was  soon  manifest  that  the  people  had  not 
over-estimated  his  abilities,  nor  the  canal  board  misplaced 
their  confidence ;  for  he  disbursed,  while  acting  in  that 
capacity,  the  several  large  appropriations  of  the  Legislature, 
amounting  to  more  than  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  dollars, 
without  any  loss  to  the  Commonwealth,  and  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  all.  He  was  re-appointed  for  three  successive 
years,  and  held  the  office  until  the  spring  of  1835,  when  the 
canal  was  completed  to  its  present  terminus  at  Farrandsville, 
and  the  office  of  superintendent  abolished. 

During  the  gubernatorial  campaign  of  1835,  Mr.  Packer 
took  a  leading  and  active  part  in  favor  of  the  re-nomination 
and  re-election  of  Governor  George  "Wolf;  and,  notwith- 
standing the  schism  in  the  Democratic  State  Convention  and 
the  prospect  of  his  own  nomination  in  the  Lycoming  district 
for  State  Senator,  he  continued  to  press,  through  the  columns 
of  the  Gazette,  the  claims  of  his  favorite,  regardless  of  per- 
sonal considerations.  Nor  was  his  zeal  abated  by  his  own 
nomination  for  Senator,  though  it  was  plain  that  he  could 
not  be  elected  without  the  support  of  the  Muhlenberg  wing 
of  the  party.  The  friends  of  Joseph  Ritner  at  once  perceived 
the  advantages  thus  afforded  them,  and  they  promptly  co- 
alesced with  the  friends  of  Mr.  Muhlenberg,  upon  Alexander 
Irwin,  of  Clearfield  County,  electing  him  by  a  small  majority, 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER.  437 

and  thus,  obtaining  his  future  sympathy  and  support.  At  the 
same  election,  Mr.  Ritner,  the  anti-Masonic  candidate,  was 
also  elected  Governor  by  a  plurality  vote  over  his  Democratic 
competitors,  George  Wolf  and  Henry  A.  Muhlenberg. 

In  1836  he  united  with  0.  Barrett  and  Benjamin  Parke  in 
the  establishment  and  publication  of  The  Keystone,  at  Ilarris- 
burg,  a  paper  which  at  once  commanded  the  confidence  and 
support  of  the  Democratic  party  of  the  State.  The  enter- 
prise was  successful,  and  Mr.  Packer  continued  a  member  of 
the  firm  until  1841,  when  he  retired.  In  the  memorable  con- 
test of  1838,  between  David  R.  Porter  and  Joseph  Ritner  for 
the  governorship,  which  was  both  animated  and  bitter,  The 
Keystone  contributed  largely  to  the  election  of  Governor 
Porter.  Mr.  Packer  also  distinguished  himself  in  the  cam- 
paign by  his  tact  and  power  as  a  public  speaker. 

In  February,  1839,  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Canal  Commissioners,  where  he  was  associated  with 
James  Clarke  and  Edward  B.  Hubley.  The  responsibility 
and  patronage  of  the  Canal  Board  were  little  exceeded  by 
those  of  the  Executive ;  and  for  the  succeeding  three  years, 
during  which  he  held  the  oifice,  his  whole  attention  was  de- 
voted to  the  successful  management  of  the  State's  vast  chain 
of  internal  improvements. 

At  the  commencement  of  Governor  Porter's  second  term, 
in  May,  1842,  Mr.  Packer  was  appointed  Auditor-General  of 
the  Commonwealth.  He  continued  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  that  office  until  1845,  a  period  of  three  years.  His  office 
gave  hirn  a  seat  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Executive,  and  thus 
called  into  action  his  knowledge  of  men,  of  measures,  and  of 
the  diversified  interests  of  the  State.  Holding  jurisdiction 
over  all  the  public  accounts,  including  the  large  expenditures 
of  money  for  public  improvements,  numerous  difficult  and 
complicated  questions  arose  for  adjudication,  which  called  for 
the  exercise  of  the  soundest  judgment;  and  no  mind,  save 
one  well  informed  by  an  extensive  acquaintance  with  the 
whole  internal  improvement  system,  as  well  as  with  the 
statutes  of  the  Commonwealth,  could  have  discharged  the 


438    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

duties  successfully.     The  ability  and  impartiality  display  ^d 
in  this  trust,  are  acknowledged  by  men  of  all  parties. 

In  1847  he  was  duly  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  from  the  district  composed  of  the  counties 
of  Lycoming,  Clinton,  and  Potter,  by  a  majority  exceeding 
fifteen  hundred  votes.  He  was  a  candidate  at  the  preceding 
election,  and,  as  afterwards  appeared,' received  a  majority  of 
votes;  but  by  a  mistake  in  carrying  out  the  returns  of  Porter 
Township,  Clinton  County,  his  competitor  was  returned  as 
elected,  and  actually  served  during  the  whole  of  the  session 
before  the  error  was  discovered.  Although  this  was  his  first 
appearance  as  a  member  of  any  legislative  body,  his  knowledge 
of  the  public  interest's,  his  acquaintance  with  parliamentary 
rules,  and  his  business  capacity  were  so  widely  known  and 
acknowledged,  that  he  was  chosen  Speaker.  The  selection 
of  a  new  member  to  a  post  of  such  great  responsibility,  and 
requiring  such  varied  and  extensive  abilities,  may  be  regarded 
as"  a  high  honor  in  which  he  stands  as  the  sole  recipient  in  the 
annals  of  the  State.  In  1848  he  was  re-elected  by  an  increased 
majority.  The  brilliant  achievements  of  a  brave  and  suc- 
cessful general,  who  was  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  had 
produced  disastrous  results  to  the  Democratic  party  through- 
out the  Union,  giving  the  Whigs  a  large  majority  in  the 
Senate  of  Pennsylvania,  and  reducing  the  Democratic  mem- 
bers of  the  House  to  a  bare  equality  in  number  with  their 
opponents  —  each  party  having  fifty  members.  Notwith- 
standing this  circumstance,  and  although  every  member  was 
in  attendance  at  the  organization  of  the  House,  Mr.  Packer 
was  again  elected  Speaker  of  that  body.  Considering  his 
known  attachment  to  Democratic  principles,  his  great  influ- 
ence and  continual  activity  as  a  writer  and  as  a  public  speaker 
in  sustaining  those  principles,  his  second  elevation  to  the 
Speaker's  chair  was  an  honorable  and  magnanimous  tribute 
to  his  talents  and  integrity,  and  to  the  impartiality  and  ability 
with  which  he  had  discharged  the  high  duties  of  the  office  at 
the  previous  session.  This  compliment  was  in  fact  richly 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER.  439 

merited.  Although  self-taught,  his  education  had  not  been 
neglected.  He  was  familiar  with  the  current  literature,  and 
with  the  teachings  of  history  and  philosophy.  Though  not  a 
member  of  the  legal  profession^  he  was  a  much  better  lawyer 
than  many  who  belonged  to  it.  His  thorough  acquaintance 
with  legal  principles  and  with  constitutional  and  parliamen- 
tary law,  eminently  qualified  him  for  the  duties  of  the  chair. 
So  satisfactory  were  his  decisions  upon  the  many  difficult  ques- 
tions which  arose  during  the  two  sessions  in  which  he  served 
as  Speaker,  that  they  were  in  no  instance  reversed  by  the 
House.  Indeed,  an  appeal  was  never  taken,  except  in  a  soli- 
tary case;  and  on  that  occasion,  upon  hearing  his  reasons  and 
the  authority  cited  in  support  of  his  decision,  the  judgment 
of  the  Chair  was  unanimously  sustained, —  the  gentleman  who 
took  it  voting  against  his  own  appeal. 

At  the  general  election  of  1849,  Mr.  Packer,  having  re- 
ceived the  Democratic  nomination  for  State  Senator,  in  the 
district  composed  of  the  counties  of  Lycoming,  Clinton, 
Centre,  and  Sullivan,  was  elected  by  a  large  majority  over 
Andrew  G.  Curtin,  who  succeeded  him  in  the  Executive 
chair.  Politically,  at  that  time,  the  Senate  was  about  equally 
divided,  and  at  the  two  succeeding  sessions  the  Whig  party 
had  the  control.  In  that  body,  as  was  anticipated,  he 
proved  one  of  the  most  efficient  members,  and  especially  dis- 
tinguished himself  on  all  questions  relating  to  the  improve- 
ment of  the  valley  of  the  Susquehaima.  Hitherto  no  rail- 
road had  been  authorized  along  that  valley  by  which  a  close 
North  and  South  connection  could  be  effected  between 
Washington  and  Baltimore  and  the  Great  Lakes.  Trade  and 
travel  were  compelled  to  leave  the  route  destined  by  nature 
for  a  great  public  highway,  and  pass  over  mountain  chains 
or  by  circuitous  routes,  through  other  cities.  The  reason 
assigned  for  this  unwise  course  was  that  the  policy  of  Penn- 
sylvania was  opposed  to  the  building  of  roads  leading  across 
the  line  of  its  improvements  and  directly  to  cities  of  other 
States.  Mr.  Packer,  in  the  session  of  1851,  met  this  question 
boldly,  by  introducing  a  bill  to  incorporate  the  Susquchanna 


440    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

Railroad  Company,  with  authority  to  construct  a  road  con- 
necting with  the  York  and  Cumberland  road  at  Bridgeport, 
opposite  Harrisburg,  or  with  the  Pennsylvania  road,  on  either 
side  of  the  Susquehanna,  or  on  the  Juniata,  and  with  the  right 
and  privilege  to  connect  with  both  or  either  of  said  roads,  and 
running  through  Halifax  and  Millersburg,in  Dauphin  County, 
to  Sunbury,  in  Northumberland  County ;  and  with  the  further 
privilege  of  extending  the  road  from  Sunbury  to  Williams- 
port,  on  the  West  Branch,  and  to  Wilkesbarre,  on  the  North 
Branch,  of  the  Susquehanna.  This  project,  so  eminently 
proper  in  itself,  but  so  repugnant  to  the  policy  theretofore 
pursued,  was,  of  course,  bitterly  opposed.  Finding  that  it 
could  not  be  defeated  by  direct  attack,  bold  attempts  were 
made  to  destroy  its  effect  by  amendments.  But  all  these 
efforts  to  embarrass  and  defeat  the  measure  were  firmly  and 
successfully  resisted.  The  bill  passed  and  became  a  law. 

At  the  same  session,  a  bill  was  reported  by  the  Senate 
committee  of  finance  authorizing  the  assessment  of  a  tax  of 
twenty-five  cents  per  ton  on  all  freight,  and  fifteen  cents  on 
each  passenger  paying  fare  and  passing  over  the  York  and 
Cumberland  Railroad.  As  that  road  was  but  twenty-six 
miles  in  length,  the  tax  proposed  was  almost  prohibitory,  and 
was  intended  by  its  supporters  to  prevent  trade  and  travel 
from  leaving  the  valley  of  the  Susquehanna  and  passing  to 
Baltimore  —  the  York  and  Cumberland  Railroad  constituting 
a  link  in  the  chain  of  roads  leading  to  that  city.  Mr. 
Packer's  speech,  in  'opposition  to  that  measure,  delivered  on 
the  21st  of  February,  1851,  and  reported  by  Wm.  E.  Drake, 
was  a  masterly  effort.  It  was  extensively  republished,  and 
produced  a  marked  effect  upon  the  public  mind.  It  was  con- 
clusive ;  and  the  friends  of  the  bill  were  constrained  to  accept 

the  same  terms  of  taxation  on  the  York  and  Cumberland, 

7 

which  were  by  law  imposed  upon  the  Pennsylvania  railroads. 
The  liberal  and  statesmanlike  policy  so  successfully  advocated 
by  him  on  that  occasion  is  not  now  questioned,  and  is  ap- 
proved by  none  more  heartily  than  by  those  who  then 
opposed  it  with  4ie  greatest  zeal. 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER.  441 

When  the  three-hundred-dollar  exemption  law  was  passed, 
Mr.  Packer  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  gave  it  his  cordial  support.  At  the  succeeding  session, 
in  presenting  to  the  Senate  a  petition  from  a  portion  of  his 
own  constituency,  asking  for  the  repeal  of  the  law,  he  an- 
nounced his  fixed  determination  to  resist  the  repeal,  and  in 
a  speech  upon  that  subject,  feelingly  remarked :  "I  would  not 
permit  the  covetous  and  hard-hearted  creditor  to  drive  his 
unfortunate  debtor,  naked  and  penniless,  out  upon  the  cold 
charities  of  an  inhospitable  world.  The  laws  that  authorize 
such  a  procedure  should  be  blotted  from  the  pages  of  the 
statute  books  of  every  State  in  this  Union.  They  are  repug- 
nant to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  revolting  to  humanity. 
Like  the  laws  sanctioning  imprisonment  for  debt,  they 
should  be  repudiated  by  every  philanthropic  legislator ;  they 
should  exist  but  in  the  history  of  the  past — an  obsolete  idea. 
It  has  been  truly  said,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  he  who  sells  out  the 
last  little  property  of  a  wife  and  family  of  small  children  of 
a  rash,  heedless,  or  perhaps  intemperate  husband  and  father, 
and  afterwards,  with  a  cheerful  countenance,  goes  home  to 
dine,  goes  home  to  feast  on  human  hearts.  Sir,  money  thus 
obtained  has  a  damning  curse  upon  it." 

He  also  supported,  in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature, 
the  proposed  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  authorizing  the 
election  of  the  judiciary  by  the  people. 

On  the  organization  of  the  Susquehanna  Railroad  Com- 
pany, in  June,  1852,  Mr.  Packer  was  made  its  first  president; 
and  it  was  mainly  through  his  exertions,  aided  by  influential 
citizens  of  Baltimore,  that  that  city,  by  its  councils,  decided 
to  guarantee  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  the  bonds  of 
the  York  and  Cumberland  Railroad  Company,  which  had 
been  loaned  to  the  Susquehanna  Company.  This  at  once 
gave  to  the  latter  funds  and  a  credit  which  ultimately  secured 
the  completion  of  the  road  to  Stmbury.  Subsequently,  the 
Susquehanna,  the  York  and  Cumberland,  and  the  Baltimore 
and  Susquehanna  Companies  were  consolidated  under  the 
title  of  the  Northern  Central  Railway  Company,  and  a  di«- 


442      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

tinguished  Baltimorean  was  made  its  first  president,  Mr. 
Packer  continuing  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors. 

In  1854  the  Legislature  annulled  the  charter  of  the  Frank- 
lin Canal  Company  and  assumed  the  control  of  the  railroad 
built  by  that  company  from  the  city  of  Erie  to  the  Ohio  Stato 
line,  and  Mr.  Packer  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the 
road  while  it  was  in  the  possession  of  the  State.  He  entered 
upon  those  duties,  and  continued  to  discharge  them  until  the 
Lake  Shore  Railroad  difficulties  were  finally  and  satisfactorily 
settled. 

For  some  years  prior  to  the  Presidential  election  of  1856, 
the  Democracy  of  Pennsylvania  had  presented  the  name  of 
James  Buchanan  for  the  first  office  of  the  nation,  and  to 
secure  his  nomination  by  the  Cincinnati  Convention  of  that 
year,  great  care  was  taken  in  the  selection  of  delegates  to 
represent  the  State  in  that  body.  Among  those  chosen  was 
Mr.  Packer,  who  labored  earnestly  to  accomplish  that  object. 
Mr.  Buchanan  was  nominated ;  and  when  the  platform  was 
reported  to  -the  convention,  it  so  fully  met  the  approval  of 
Mr.  Packer's  judgment  that  he  moved  its  adoption  "  without 
the  crossing  of  a  t  or  the  dotting  of  an  i ;  "  and  his  motion 
was  unanimously  carried.  Gratified  alike  with  the  candidate 
and  the  platform,  all  his  energies  were  devoted  to  their  suc- 
cess; and  his  numerous  speeches  during  that  campaign 
contributed  largely  in  producing  the  desired  result.  In  this 
connection,  it  may  be  stated  that  he  was  also  a  delegate  to 
the  first  Democratic  National  Convention,  which  assembled  in 
Baltimore  in  1835,  and  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  for 
President,  and  Richard  M.  Johnson  for  Vk  e-President. 

In  March,  1857,  he  was  nominated  f>  r  Governor,  and 
though  opposed  by  the  Hon.  David  Wilmot,  author  of  the 
"  Wilmot  Proviso,"  who  enjoyed  a  wide-spread  reputation  as 
a  public  speaker  and  a  politician,  candidate  of  the  Republi- 
cans, and  by  the  Hon.  Isaac  Hazlehurst,  candidate  of  the 
Native  Americans,  he  was  triumphantly  elected,  having  a 
majority  over  both  of  more  than  fourteen  thousand  votes. 

At  the  period  of  his  nomination  for  Governor,  the  political 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER.  443' 

question  which  overshadowed  all  others  was,  whether  Kansas 
should  be  admitted  into  the  Union  with  or  without  a  con- 
stitutional recognition  of  slavery.  A  state  of  armed  hostility 
existed  between  the  inhabitants  and  the  general  Government, 
and  the  agents  of  the  latter,  for  their  safety,  had  been  com- 
pelled to  flee  from  the  territory.  In  view  of  the  bearing 
which  the  action  of  the  national  administration  on  this  ques- 
tion must  necessarily  have  upon  the  Pennsylvania  election, 
then  pending,  Mr.  Packer  addressed  a  letter  to  President 
Buchanan,  from  which,  though  marked  "  private,"  the' fol- 
lowing paragraphs  may  be  made  public  without  impropriety. 
It  is  dated,  Harrisburg,  March  24,  1857.  "  Our  people,"  he 
says,  "  confidently  expect  that  your  administration  will  see 
that  equal  and  exact  justice  shall  be  done  to  all  parties  —  the 
free-state  as  well  as  the  pro-slavery  men  —  and  they  will  be 
satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  that.  We  approve  of  the 
Kansas  bill ;  but  in  God's  name  let  its  provisions  be  honestly 
carried  out;  let  the  law  be  faithfully  executed.  Let  the  con- 
duct of  the  public  agents  in  Kansas  not  only  be  right,  but  let 
it  appear  to  be  right.  If  slavery  should  be  instituted  by,  or 
under  a  slave-holding  Executive,  and  Kansas  should  claim 
admission  as  a  slave  State,  it  does  not  require  a  prophet  to 
foretell  the  consequences  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line. 
The  Democratic  party,  which  has  stood  by  the  Constitution 
and  the  rights  of  the  South  with  such  unflinching  fidelity, 
would  be  stricken  down  in  the  few  remaining  States  where 
it  is  yet  in  the  ascendancy;  the  balance  of  power  would  be 
lost ;  and  Black  Republicans  would  rule  this  nation,  or  civil 
war  and  disunion  would  inevitably  follow.  What,  then,  is  to 
be  done  ?  Will  you  permit  me  to  make  a  suggestion  ?  The 
post  of  honor  and  renown,  if  successfully  and  satisfactorily 
filled,  at  this  moment  in  the  gift  of  the  President,  is  the  Gov- 
ernorship of  Kansas.  Send  one  of  the  first  men  of  the  nation 
there  —  some  gentleman  who  enjoys  the  confidence  of  the 
North  and  the  South  —  and  let  him  cover  himself  with  glory 
by  a  fearless  and  a  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  star 
tion.  Sustain  him,  then,  with  the  whole  power  of  the  Govern- 


444      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

ment,  and  follow  with  swift  vengeance  any  party  that  dares 
to  raise  a  hand  against  the  law  or  its  prompt  and  faithful  exe- 
cution. The  time  for  trifling  is  past.  Bold,  efficient  action 
is  required.  To  waver  or  to  vacillate,  is  to  fail.  Who,  then, 
should  he  appointed  ?  If  General  Scott  would  accept  of  the 
position,  and  if  the  duties  are  compatible  with  those  of  the 
military  station  he  now  holds,  I  answer,  appoint  General 
Winfield  Scott.  He  has  the  confidence  of  the  nation.  He 
is  acceptable  to  the  South,  having  been  born  and  reared  in 
Virginia;  and  he  is  not  unacceptable  to  the  North,  inasmuch 
as  he  now  resides  there.  If  requested  by  the  President,  in 
view  of  the  importance  of  the  mission,  I  do  not  think  that 
he  would  decline.  However,  let  some  such  man  be  appointed 

—  some  man  well  known  to  the  American  people,  and  in 
whom  they  confide,  and  the  result  will  be  the  same.     All  will 
be  well.     Otherwise,  I  tremble  for  the  result." 

His  official  action  on  national  questions  which,  during  his 
Executive  term,  seriously  threatened  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  and  which  ultimately  involved  the  country  in  civil 
war,. forms  so  important  a  part  of  the  record  of  that  eventful 
crisis,  as  it  relates  to  Pennsylvania,  that  it  is  due  to  the  truth 
of  history,  as  well  as  to  Governor  Packer's  memory,  to  pre- 
sent some  extracts  from  his  annual  messages,  in  which  the 
whole  subject  was  discussed.  Throughout  his  administration 
he  was  the  firm  advocate  of  the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty 

—  the  right  of  the  people  of  the  States  and  Territories  to 
form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own 
way,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
In  his  inaugural  address  he  said :  "  To  the  people  of  Penn- 
sylvania the  admission  of  a  new  State  into  the  Union  —  into 
ihat  confederacy  of  which  she  is  a  member  —  must  be  at  all 
times  a  subject  of  high  interest.     And  I  believe  I  express 
their  sentiments,  as  well  as  my  own,  in  declaring  that  all  the 
qualified  electors  of  a  territory  should  have  a  full  and  fair 
opportunity  to  participate  in  selecting  delegates  to  form  a 
constitution  preparatory  to  admission  as  a  State,  and,  if  de- 
sired by  them,  they  should  also  be  allowed  an   unqualified 
right  to  vote  upon  such  constitution  after  it  is  framed." 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER.  445 

In  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature,  in  January,  1859, 
referring  to  his  inaugural  address,  he  said :  "  Subsequent 
events  have  confirmed  me  in  these  sentiments.  The  de- 
plorable disputes  in  the  first  session  of  the  present  Congress, 
the  popular  excitement  resulting  from  those  disputes,  together 
with  other  proceedings,  in  their  nature  novel  and  alarming, 
would  all  have  been  averted,  had  the  people  been  secured  in 
'  the  unqualified  right '  to  vote  upon  their  domestic  institu- 
tions. I  regret  to  be  compelled  to  say  that,  under  various 
pretences,  this  sacred  franchise  has  been  virtually  withheld 
from  them.  During  the  angry  feelings  which  this  contro- 
versy has  aroused,  the  theory  has  been  started,  and  insisted 
upon,  that  it  will  henceforward  be  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
protect  slavery  in  the  territories,  if  the  people  of  the  terri- 
tories shall  fail  to  do  so.  ...  Such  a  doctrine,  no  matter  how 
sanctioned  or  supported,  will  shake  the  very  pillars  of  our 
constitutional  fabric.  It  would  compel  every  territory  to 
elevate  property  in  slaves  above  every  other  description  of 
property,  and  to  establish  a  slave  code  in  its  early  municipal 
regulations;  or  else  it  would  convert  the  Congress  into  a 
theatre  of  crimination  and  confusion,  and  fill  the  whole 
country  with  strife.  .  .  .  Regarding  myself  as  fully  commit- 
ted to  the  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty  in  its  broadest 
sense,  I  can  never  subscribe  to  the  theory  of  congressional 
intervention,  as  understood  and  supported  by  the  opponents 
of  this  doctrine.  ...  A  theory  equally  heretical  has  been 
advanced  in  another  portion  of  the  Union.  It  has  been  held 
that  this  government,  divided  into  free  and  slave  States,  as  it 
was  framed  by  our  revolutionary,  fathers,  cannot  endure,  — 
that  all  must  become  free,  or  all  become  slave.  "When  such 
a  doctrine  shall  be  enforced,  the  constitution  will  have  been 
subverted,  State  sovereignty  prostrated,  State  rights  disre- 
garded, and  the  liberty  of  the  people  destroyed.  It  should 
meet  an  indignant  rebuke  from  every  lover  of  his  country, 
and  the  blood-bought  right  of  the  people  and  the  States  to 
self-government." 

In  the  fall  of  1859,  "  John  Brown's  raid "  was  made  into 


446      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

Virginia.  In  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1860,  Governor  Packer  thus  refers  to  that  subject : 
"  The  recent  seizure  of  the  public  property  of  the  United 
States  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  the  invasion  of  the  State  of 
Virginia,  by  a  small  band  of  desperadoes,  with  an  intention 
to  excite  the  slave  population  to  insurrection,  have  drawn 
attention  to  the  dangers  which  beset  our  federal  relations. 
...  To  us,  as  Pennsylvanians,  it  is  gratifying  to  believe  that 
the  citizens  of  this  Commonwealth  have  not,  in  any  manner, 
participated  in  this  unlawful  proceeding,  and  to  know  that 
when  some  of  the  guilty  perpetrators  were  arrested  "within 
our  jurisdiction,  they  were  promptly  surrendered  to  the 
justice  of  the  offended  and  injured  State.  The  several 
States  of  this  Union  are  independent  sovereignties,  except 
so  far  as  they  have  granted  certain  enumerated  powers  to  the 
Federal  government.  In  cases  not  provided  for  in  the  Federal 
Constitution,  the  several  States,  in  their  relations  to  each 
other,  ought  to  be  governed  by  the  principles  which  regulate 
the  conduct  of  civilized  nations.  These  principles  forbid,  in 
all  nations,  *  every  evil  practice  tending  to  excite  disturbance 
in  another  State,'  and  are  founded  on-  the  maxim  that  '  dif- 
ferent nations  ought,  in  time  of  peace,  to  do  one  another  all 
the  good  they  can,  without  prejudicing  their  real  interests/ 
This  maxim,  recognized  by  all  civilized  governments,  applies 
with  peculiar  force  to  the  several  States  of  this  Union,  bound 
together,  as  they  are,  by  a  sacred  compact  for  mutual  support 
and  protection ;  and,  therefore,  any  attempt  in  one  State  to 
incite  insurrection  in  another  is  an  offence  against  all  the 
States,  because  all  are  bound  by  the  Constitution  to  put  down 
such  disturbance.  ...  In  determining  our  relative  duties 
Cowards  our  sister  States,  the  morality  of  servitude  is  not  an 
open  question,  for  we  are  bound  by  the  legal  and  moral 
obligation  of  the  compact  of  the  Union,  under  which  we 
have  been  brought  into  existence  and  preserved  as  inde- 
pendent States,  as  well  as  by  the  principles  of  international 
law,  to  respect  the  institutions  which  the  laws  of  the  several 
States  recognize,  and  in  no  other  way  can  we  faithfully  fulfil 
our  obligations  as  members  of  this  confederacy." 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER.  447 

Governor  Packer's  official  term  closed  in  January,  1861. 
South  Carolina,  by  its  Convention,  bad  just  passed  a  seces- 
sion ordinance.  In  his  last  Annual  Message  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, referring  to  this  momentous  subject,  he  said:  "The 
extraordinary  and  alarming  condition  of  our  national  affairs 
demands  your  immediate  attention.  On  the  twentieth  of 
December  last,  the  Convention  of  South  Carolina,  organized 
under  the  authority  of  the  Legislature  of  that  State,  by  a 
unanimous  vote  declared  'that  the  Union  now  subsisting 
between  South  Carolina  and  the  other  States,  under  the  name 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  is  hereby  dissolved;'  and 
the  action  already  taken  in  several  other  Southern  States 
indicates,  most  clearly,  their  intention  to  follow  this  example. 
On  behalf  of  the  advocates  of  secession,  it  is  claimed,  that 
this  Union  is  merely  a  compact  between  the  several  States 
composing  it,  and  that  any  one  of  the  States,  which  may  feel 
aggrieved,  may,  at  its  pleasure,  declare  that  it  will  no  longer 
be  a  party  to  the  compact.  This  doctrine  is  clearly  erroneous. 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  something  more  than 
a  mere  compact,  or  agreement,  between  the  several  States. 
As  applied  to  nations,  a  compact  is  but  a  treaty,  which  may 
be  abrogated  at  the  will  of  either  party ;  responsible  to  the 
other  party  for  its  bad  faith  in  refusing  to  keep  its  engage- 
ments, but  entirely  irresponsible  to  any  superior  tribunal.  A 
government,  on  the  other  hand,  whether  created  by  consent, 
or  conquest,  when  clothed  with  legislative,  judicial,  and  exec- 
utive powers,  is  necessarily  in  its  nature  sovereign;  and  from 
this  sovereignty  flows  its  right  to  enforce  its  laws  and  decrees 
by  civil  process,  and,  in  an  emergency,  by  its  military  and 
naval  power.  The  government  owes  protection  to  the  people, 
and  they,  in  turn,  owe  it  their  allegiance.  Its  laws  cannot  be 
violated  by  its  citizens,  without  accountability  to  the  tribu- 
nals created  to  enforce  its  decrees  and  to  punish  offenders. 
Organized  resistance  to  it,  is  rebellion.  If  successful,  it  may 
be  purged  of  crime  by  revolution.  If  unsuccessful,  the  per- 
sons engaged  in  the  rebellion  may  be  executed  as  traitors. 
The  Government  of  the  United  States,  within  the  limits 


448      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

assigned  to  it,  is  as  potential  in  sovereignty  as  any  other 
government  in  the  civilized  world.  The  Constitution,  and 
laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  are  expressly  declared  to  be 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  Under  the  Constitution,  the 
general  Government  has  the  power  to  raise  and  support 
armies,  to  create  and  maintain  a  navy,  and  to  provide  for 
calling  forth  the  militia,  to  execute  its  laws,  suppress  insur- 
rection and  repel  invasion The  creation  of  the  Federal 

government,  with  the  powers  enumerated  in.  the  Constitution, 
was  the  act  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  it  is  per- 
fectly immaterial  that  the  people  of  the  several  States  acted 
separately  within  the  territorial  limits  of  each  State.  The 
form  of  their  action  is  of  no  consequence,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  they  created  a  Federal  government,  to  which  they  sur- 
rendered certain  powers  of  sovereignty,  and  declared  those 
powers,  thus  surrendered,  to  be  supreme,  without  reserving 
to  the  States,  or  to  the  people,  the  right  of  secession,  nullifi- 
cation, or  other  resistance.  It  is  therefore  clear,  that  there 
is  no  Constitutional  right  of  secession.  Secession  is  only  an- 
other form  of  nullification.  Either,  when  attempted  to  be 
carried  out  by  force,  is  rebellion,  and  should  be  treated  as 
such,  by  those  whose  sworn  duty  it  is  to  maintain  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States." 

After  reviewing  at  length  the  causes  which  had  produced 
the  perilous  disaffection  both  North  and  South,  Governor 
Packer  concluded  his  Message  by  recommending  a  com- 
promise of  existing  difficulties,  either  by  a  Constitutional 
amendment,  to  be  submitted  by  Congress,  or  by  a  National 
convention  of  delegates  emanating  from  the  people  them- 
selves. 

At  the  close  of  Governor  Packer's  administration,  owing 
to  declining  health,  he  retired  from  public  life,  and  returned 
with  his  family  to  his  former  home  in  the  city  of  Williams- 
port,  where,  honored  and  beloved  by  all,  he  died  on  the  27th 
of  September,  1870,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  In  stature,  he 
was  above  the  ordinary  size,  being  six  feet  in  height,  and 
weighing,  while  Governor,  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 


WILLIAM  F.  PACKER.  449 

pounds.  He  had  blue  eyes,  chestnut-brown  hair,  si  fair  com- 
plexion, and  a  capacious  forehead,  indicating  great  intellec- 
tual power.  His  address  was  frank,  open  and  cordial,  and 
his  conversational  powers  pleasing  and  attractive.  As  a 
public  speaker  he  had  few  equals  —  never  failing  to  attract 
large  audiences,  and  to  command  the  most  profound  attention. 
Through  life  he  was  thoroughly  democratic  in  his  principles. 
Springing  from  the  people,  he  was  no  empty  talker  about 
names  and  forms,  but  an  energetic  actor,  always  ready  to  do 
battle  for  their  rights,  and  opposing  with  unflinching  firm- 
ness every  form  of  intolerance,  whether  political  or  religious. 
Looking  to  the  people  as  the  legitimate  source  of  all  political 
authority,  he  was  ever  ready  to  trust  them  with  every  power 
consistent  with  representative  government. 

29 


ANDREW  G.  CURTIN, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER  THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1838. 

January  15,  1861,  to  January  15,  1867. 

THE  Rebellion  of  1861  brought  great  labors  and  responsi- 
bilities to  the  Executives  of  all  the  loyal  States.  It  was 
a  period  when  the  exalted  patriotism  and  devoted  service  of 
the  boldest  hearts  were  put  to  trying  tests.  Great  armies  were 
to  be  raised  and  marshalled,  and  inspired  with  enthusiasm 
for  the  national  cause,  from  a  population  long  given  to  peace- 
ful pursuits,  and  ignorant  of,  and  averse  to  the  business  of 
war.  The  productive  energies  of  the  country  were  to  be  pre- 
served from  languishing,  and  the  means  of  carrying  on  a  long 
and  wasting  contest  to  be  provided.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  to  come  to  the  Executive  chair  just  as 
hostilities  were  opening,  and  he  occupied  it  until  the  smoke 
of  the  conflict  had  cleared  away,  and  the  veterans  from  many 
a  hard-fought  field  and  lonely  bivouac  fire,  with  banners 
streaming  in  triumph,  came  marching  home.  He  came  to 
that  chair  with  the  bloom  of  youth  on  his  cheek,  and  a  step 
elastic  from  the  pulsations  of  health;  he  left  it  with  a  face  on 
which  were  graved  the  lines  of  care,  and  a  head  grown  pre- 
maturely gray.  Posterity  will  not  suffer  the  memory  of  such 
to  fade. 

Andrew  Gregg  Curtin  was  born  on  the  22d  of  April,  1817, 
at  the  village  of  Bellefonte,  Centre  County,  Pennsylvania. 
His  father,  Roland  Curtin,  had  settled  there  in  1800,  having 
emigrated  to  this  country  from  Ireland  in  1793.  He  first  en- 
gaged in  business  as  a  merchant;  but  in  a  limited  way,  for 
the  population  was  then  sparse,  and  in  that  wild,  mountainous 
region  the  only  means  of  transportation  was  by  pack-horses. 

450 


ANDREW  G.  CURTIN.  451 

In  1807  he  erected  a  forge  on  Bald  Eagle  Creek,  about  four 
miles  from  Bellefonte,  and  in  1817,  a  furnace,  where  shortly 
after  he  removed  with  his  family.  With  a  single  exception, 
that  of  General  Philip  Benuer,  his  was  the  first  manufactory 
of  iron  established  in  all  that  region,  and  in  this  business  he 
continued  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1851,  and  his 
sons  after  him  to  the  present  time.  He  was  a  man  of  consid- 
erable literary  attainments,  having  been  educated  in  Paris, 
where  he  was  sent  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He  was  twice 
married ;  the  second  time  to  a  daughter  of  Andrew  Gregg, 
for  many  years  a  member  of  Congress,  a  United  States  Sen- 
ator, Secretary  of  State  under  Governor  Heister,  and  candi- 
date for  Governor  in  opposition  to  John  Andrew  Shulze. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  one  of  seven  children  by  the 
second  marriage.  He  was  first  taught  in  his  native  village, 
where  Mr.  Brown,  a  man  of  learning  and  culture,  was  em- 
ployed to  instruct  a  dozen  or  more  boys,  and  where,  among 
others,  he  was  associated  with  Roland  Curtin  Boileau,  since 
remarkably  successful  as  a  merchant  of  Meadvilte.  He  was 
afterwards  sent  to  a  school  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Keagy  at 
Harrisburg,  and  was  finally  placed  in  a  widely  celebrated 
institution  at  Milton,  of  which  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kirkpatrick  was 
principal,  where  he  finished  his  academic  education.  He 
then  returned  to  Bellefoute,  where  he  commenced  the  study 
of  law  in  the  office  of  William  W.  Potter,  afterwards  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress  from  that  district.  Attracted  by  the  fame  of 
Dickinson  College,  which  at  this  period  had  a  law  department 
in  a  flourishing  condition,  Mr.  Curtin  was  matriculated  in  the 
latter,  where  he  became  a  pupil  of  Judge  Reed,  who  was 
regarded  as  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  State. 

In  1839  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Centre  County,  and 
commenced  practice  at  Bellefonte,  in  partnership  with  John 
Blanchard,  an  eminent  lawyer  arid  afterwards  member  of 
Congress.  At  the  very  opening  of  his  career  he  took  a  lead- 
ing rank  in  his  profession.  Of  commanding  presence,  and 
ready  elocution,  he  was  able,  from  his  well-stored  mind,  to 
hold  the  attention  alike  of  judge  and  jury.  Possessed  of 


452    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

exuberant  spirits,  and  a  keen  sense  for  wit  and  humor,  he 
was  often  able,  by  a  few  master-strokes  of  ridicule,  to  make 
what  seemed  in  his  opponent's  case  to  be  plausible,  appear 
utterly  indefensible.  In  criminal  cases  he  was  especially 
successful,  and  it  was  before  a  jury  in  such  causes  that  his 
power  was  most  conspicuous,  and  in  conducting  which  he 
took  great  delight. 

His  tastes  and  training  admirably  qualified  him  for  the  po- 
litical arena,  and  he  early  entered  it  embracing  the  principles 
of  the  Whig  party  of  that  day,  of  which  he  soon  became  a 
most  successful  advocate.  In  1840  he  labored  for  the  ele- 
vation of  General  Harrison  to  the  Presidency,  and  in  1844 
made  a  successful  canvass  of  the  State  for  Henry  Clay,  ex- 
citing great  enthusiasm  wherever  he  appeared.  In  1848  he 
was  placed  upon  the  electoral  ticket  and  contributed  largely 
in  raising  and  maintaining  that  tide  of  enthusiasm  which 
carried  the  hero  of  the  first  Mexican  campaign  to  the  Presi- 
dential chair.  He  performed  a  like  office  for  General  Scott 
in  1852,  serving  again  upon  the  electoral  ticket. 

In  1854  he  was  strongly  urged  to  accept  the  nomination 
for  Governor,  but  refused,  and  took  instead  the  laboring  oar 
in  securing  the  election  of  his  friend  James  Pollock,  acting 
as  chairman  of  the  State  central  committee  of  the  party,  con- 
ducting the  canvass  with  unexampled  energy  and  zeal,  and 
with  the  most  flattering  success.  Recognizing  his  eminent 
qualifications  for  the  position,  Governor  Pollock  appointed 
him  Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  a  post  of  signal  honor 
and  responsibility,  as  in  addition  to  the  duty  of  Secretary 
proper,  he  was  ex-offirio  superintendent  of  Common  Schools. 
In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  latter  office  he  took  a 
special  pride,  and  labored  zealously.  It  was  at  a  period  when 
important  changes  were  being  engrafted  upon  the  common- 
school  system,  and  before  it  had  become  firmly  rooted  in  the 
affections  of  the  people.  Previous  to  this  time  the  super- 
vision of  the  schools  in  many  parts  of  the  State  was  lax,  and 
the  uses  of  the  public  money  were  often  very  questionable, 
favorites  of  those  wh  ?  had  its  custody  often  creeping  into  the 


ANDREW  G.   CURTIN.  453 

position  of  teacher  with  little  fitness  for  the  place.  County 
superintendents  had  just  then  been  chosen  for  the  first  time 
whose  duty  it  was  to  examine  and  certify  to  the  qualifications 
of  teachers ;  and  no  one  could  be  employed  without  such 
certificate.  They  were  also  to  visit  the  schools,  and  annually 
to  report  the  manner  in  which  moneys  had  been  expended. 
The  people  in  many  parts  of  the  State,  ever  regarding  with 
jealous  eye  the  creation  of  new  offices,  looked  with  distrust 
upon  the  County  Superintendency ;  and  dishonest  officials  who 
are  usually  loudest  in  their  cry  for  reform,  saw  in  it  the  ruin 
of  their  system  of  ill-gotten  gains.  Joined  to  these  causes  of 
disquiet,  in  many  counties  an  unfortunate  choice  of  officers 
was  made,  and  in  others  inadequate  salaries  were  voted,  thus 
crippling  the  services  of  good  officers.  It  is  not  strange, 
therefore,  that  considerable  opposition  was  manifested  to  this 
feature,  and  indeed  to  the  whole  school  system.  But  by  the 
indefatigable  labors  of  Secretary  Curtin,  and  his  able  and 
zealous  deputy,  Henry  C.  Hickok,  it  was  preserved  in  its 
integrity  until  the  new  features  could  take  root,  and  com- 
mend themselves  by  their  fruits  to  the  sober  judgment  of  the 
people.  To  the  steady  hand  of  these  officials  in  this  trying 
period  is  due  one  of  the  most  important  agencies  in  making 
common-school  education  efficient  in  Pennsylvania. 

In  his  annual  report  of  1855,  after  recounting  the  numerous 
evils  which  had  existed  previous  to  the  establishment  of  the 
County  Superintendency  and  other  provisions  of  the  law  of 
1854,  he  says :  "  It  is  not  surprising  that,  as  these  abuses  were 
beyond  the  reach  of  individual  effort,  and  grew  as  a  conse- 
quence out  of  the  defects  of  the  system  itself,  all  who  could 
afford  it  carefully  withheld  their  children  from  the  common 
schools."  Turning  to  a  contemplation  of  the  happy  changes 
which  had  been  produced  by  the  establishment  of  the  County 
Superintendency  in  the  same  report,  he  says:  "It  has  ef- 
fected a  useful  adjustment  of  the  business  operations  of  the 
boards  of  directors  in  correcting  the  deranged  state  of  their 
finances,  and  in  many  instances  in  recovering  money  of  the 
schools  overlooked  or  supposed  to  be  lost.  It  has  elevated 


454      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

the  profession  and  established  more  uniformity  in  the  char 
acter  and  qualifications  of  teachers  in  theory  and  generally  in 
practice ;  the  incompetent  and  unworthy  have  been  rejected, 
while  the  door  has  been  opened  wide  for  the  admission  of 
the  meritorious  and  qualified,  and  a  stimulus  has  been  given 
to  study  and  self-improvement.  It  is  the  great  medium  of 
connection  between  the  Department  and  the  schools;  and, 
while  it  has  produced  unity  and  harmony  of  action  between 
them,  it  has  secured  to  the  system  power  and  efficiency  hith- 
erto unattainable." 

But,  while  he  thus  rejoiced  in  the  improvements  in  the 
organic  law  which  had  been  achieved,  and  the  good  results 
which  they  were  producing,  he  plainly  saw  that  one  element 
of  strength  and  prosperity  was  still  wanting,  and  deeply 
lamented  the  defect.  "  The  leading  feature,"  he  says,  "  of 
every  report  emanating  from  this  Department  to  the  Legis- 
lature for  twenty  years,  is  the  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of 

well-qualified  teachers No  substitute  for  a  regular 

professional  training,  extending  through  years,  and  embrac- 
ing a  complete  course  of  study  in  all  the  branches  necessary 
to  illustrate  those  directly  taught  in  the  schools,  can  make  the 
perfect  teacher." 

That  the  Legislature  might  have  some  definite  object  for 
which  to  labor,  in  concluding  his  remarks  upon  the  subject 
of  training  teachers,  in  his  report  of  the  following  year,  he 
portrays  the  features  of  a  system  of  Normal  Schools  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  State,  and  urges  its  consideration  with 
great  warmth  and  earnestness.  "  A  combination  of  the  best 
elements  of  the  State  and  the  private  school,  and  at  the  same 
time  an  avoidance  of  their  disadvantages,  might  be  obtained 
by  the  enactment  of  a  law  of  which  the  following  is  a  synop- 
sis:—  The  State  to  be  divided  into  ten  or  more  Normal 
School  Districts,  each  to  contain  one  school — -the  establish- 
ment, government,  powers  and  duties  of  the  schools  to  be  uni- 
form in  all  the  districts,  and  to  be  regulated  by  the  general 
provisions  of  the  law.  The  schools  to  be  erected  and  gov- 
erned in  accordance  with  the  general  law,  by  private  but  a*- 


ANDREW  G.  CURTIN.  ,  .       455 

sociate  enterprise,  to  contain  halls,  class-rooms,  and  apparatus, 
with  a  school  of  practice,  and  the  necessary  facilities  of  in- 
struction, for  not  less  than  three  hundred  students  each  ;  and 
only  to  be  recognized  as  schools  for  the  training  of  teachers 
under  the  law,  when  completed,  in  conformity  to  all  its  pro- 
visions, after  inspection  by  the  Governor,  or  such  other  officer 
as  the  Legislature  may  please  to  designate.  The  course  and 
term  of  study  to  be  arranged  by  the  joint  action  of  the  pro- 
per public  authorities,  and  the  principals  of  all  the  schools. 
Each  Normal  School  to  receive  one  or  two  students  annually 
from  each  common-school  district,  at  a  price  for  tuition  to  be 
fixed  by  the  law,  and  to  be  paid  either  by  the  State  or  the 
district.  Such  students  to  be  designated  by  the  directors  of 
the  proper  district,  from  among  its  most  -meritorious  and 
best  prepared  pupils  desirous  of  acquiring  the  art  and  science 
of  teaching.  Examinations  to  be  made,  and  diplomas 
granted,  by  all  the  principals  of  the  district  normal  schools, 
with  the  concurrence  and  aid  of  the  proper  State  officers. 
Such  diplomas  to  be  conclusive  evidence  of  the  degree  of 
scholarship  specified  in  them ;  but  no  certificate  of  compe- 
tency in  the  art  of  teaching  to  be  given,  until  after  two  years 
successful  practical  experience,  certified  by  the  directors,  by 
whom  he  or  she  was  employed,  and  by  the  County  Superin- 
tendent of  the  proper  district." 

At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  following  that  to  which 
this  report  was  made,  a  law  was  passed  embodying  the  iden- 
tical provisions  here  recommended.  It  was  the  crowning 
excellence  of  the  admirable  system  of  education  with  which 
the  State  is  blessed.  Already  in  eight  of  the  districts  pro- 
fessional schools  have  been  established,  or  are  in  process  of 
being  established,  presided  over  by  able  and  learned  pro- 
fessors, and  filled  with  an  aspiring  and  intelligent  corps  of 
young  men  and  women  in  training  for  the  office  of  teacher, 
an  honor  to  the  Commonwealth  and  the  chief  glory  of  the 
Common  School  system. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  term  as  Secretary,  Mr.  Curtin  re- 
sumed the  practice  of  the  law  at  his  old  home  in  Bellefonte, 


456      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

and  was  active  and  influential  in  promoting  the  opening  of 
lines  of  railway  leading  into  the  central  part  of  the  State. 
In  1860,  he  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  Governor. 
Though  the  Democratic  party  in  the  nation  was  divided,  sup- 
porting Breekinridge  and  Douglas  for  President,  it  rallied 
in  Pennsylvania  with  great  unanimity  to  the  support  of 
Henry  D.  Foster.  The  contest  was  an  animated  one,  the 
canvass  being  conducted  on  both  sides  with  great  energy  and 
ability.  Mr.  Curtin  spoke  in  nearly  every  county  in  the  Com- 
monwealth, often  addressing  assemblies  in  two  or  three  places 
in  a  single  day.  He  everywhere  attracted  large  audiences, 
and  created  great  enthusiasm  in  his  favor,  especially  among 
the  young  men.  He  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  over  thirty- 
two  thousand  votes,  much  larger  than  the  most  sanguine  of 
his  friends  had  anticipated,  considering  that  his  immediate 
predecessor,  of  opposite  politics,  had  been  chosen  by  a  large 
majority.  The  struggle  had  been  intensified  by  the  fact  that 
a  Presidential  election  was  to  follow  in  less  than  a  month, 
and  Pennsylvania  was  regarded  as  the  battle-ground  where 
the  contest  was  to  be  decided.  After  the  gubernatorial  de- 
cision had  been  pronounced,  there  was  no  longer  any  doubt 
about  the  result  in  ^November,  the  choice  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
being  generally  conceded. 

Governor  Curtin  was  called  to  the  Gubernatorial  chair  at  a 
time  when  the  gravest  problems  ever  presented  to  American 
statesmanship  were  to  be  solved.  The  geographical  position 
of  the  State  added  to  its  overshadowing  political  importance, 
made  the  duties  of  the  Executive  peculiarly  responsible  and 
perplexing.  Separated  from  the  Slave  States  by  a  merely 
imaginary  line,  and  looked  to  from  both  the  North  and  the 
South,  to  exhaust  its  great  moral  and  political  power  to  avert 
war,  every  expression  from  its  government  was  awaited  with 
profound  interest.  It  was  under  such  circumstances  that 
Governor  Curtin  was  called  to  speak  for  Pennsylvania  in  his 
inaugural  address  of  January,  1861.  He  spoke  with  words 
of  deliberation,  decision,  and  wisdom,  and  made  a  record  of 
statesmanship  that  stood  the  severe  test  of  years  of  bloody 


ANDREW  G.  CURTIN.  457 

and  wasting  war.  The  conflict  obliterated  old  and  sacred 
landmarks  in  political  teaching;  but  the  relations  of  the 
States  to  each  other,  and  the  duties  of  patriotism  as  pro- 
claimed by  him  in  his  first  official  utterance,  remain  un- 
changed, and  are  indorsed  throughout  the  North.  In  that 
address  he  said  :  "  No  one  who  knows  the  history  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  understands  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  her  peo- 
ple, can  justly  charge  us  with  hostility  to  our  brethren  of 
other  States.  "We  regard  them  as  friends  and  fellow-country- 
men, in  whose  welfare  we  feel  a  kindred  interest;  and  we 
recognize  in  their  broadest  extent  all  our  constitutional  obli- 
gations to  them.  These  we  are  ready  and  willing  to  observe, 
generously  and  fraternally  in  their  letter  and  spirit,  with 
unswerving  fidelity. 

"  Ours  is  a  national  government.  It  has  within  the  sphere 
of  its  action  all  the  attributes  of  sovereignty,  and  among  these 
are  the  right  and  duty  of  self-preservation.  It  is  based  upon 
a  compact  to  which  all  the  people  of  the  United  States  are 
parties.  It  is  the  result  of  mutual  concessions',  which  were 
made  for  the  purpose  of  securing  reciprocal  benefits.  It  acts 
directly  on  the  people,  and  they  owe  it  a  personal  allegiance. 
No  part  of  the  people,  no  State,  nor  combination  of  States, 
can  voluntarily  secede  from  the  Union,  nor  absolve  them- 
selves from  their  obligations  to  it.  To  permit  a  State  to  with- 
draw at  pleasure  from  the  Union,  without  the  consent  of  the 
rest,  is  to  confess  that  our  Government  is  a  failure.  Penn- 
sylvania can  never  acquiesce  in  such  a  conspiracy,  nor  assent  to 
a  doctrine  which  involves  the  destruction  of  the  Government. 
If  the  Government  is  to  exist,  all  the  requirements  of  the 
Constitution  must  be  obeyed ;  and  it  must  have  power  ade- 
quate to  the  enforcement  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land  in 
every  State.  It  is  the  first  duty  of  the  national  authorities 
to  stay  the  progress  of  anarchy  and  enforce  the  laws,  and 
Pennsylvania,  with  a  united  people,  will  give  them  an  honest, 
faithful  and  active  support.  The  people  mean  to  preserve  the 
integrity  of  the  national  Union  at  every  hazard." 

Again,  on  the  30th  of  April,  when  the  Legislature  met  in 


458     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

extraordinary  s;ssion  in  obedience  to  his  proclamation,  to 
provide  for  the  public  defence,  he  said:  "The  time  is  past 
for  temporizing  or  forbearing  with  this  rebellion,  the  most 
causeless  in  history.  The  North  has  not  invaded,  nor  has 
she  sought  to  invade  a  single  guaranteed  right  of  the  South. 
On  the  contrary,  all  political  parties,  and  all  administrations, 
have  fully  recognized  the  binding  force  of  every  provision  of 
the  great  compact  between  the  States,  and  regardless  of  our 
views  of  State  policy,  our  people  have  respected  them.  To' 
predicate  a  rebellion,  therefore,  upon  any  alleged  wrong, 
inflicted  or  sought  to  be  inflicted  upon  the  South,  is  to  offer 
falsehood  as  an  apology  for  treason.  So  will  the  civilized 
world  and  history  judge  this  mad  effort  to  overthrow  the 
most  beneficent  structure  of  human  government  ever  devised 
by  man. 

"  The  leaders  of  the  rebellion  in  the  cotton  States  which 
has  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  provisional  organiza- 
tion, assuming  to  discharge  all  the  functions  of  governmental 
power,  have  mistaken  the  forbearance  of  the  general  Gov- 
ernment; they  have  accepted  a  fraternal  indulgence  as  an 
evidence  of  weakness,  and  have  insanely  looked  to  a  united 
South,  and  a  divided  North  to  give  success  to  the  wild  ambi- 
tion that  has  led  to  the  seizure  of  our  national  arsenals  and 
arms ;  the  investment  and  bombardment  of  our  forts,  the 
plundering  of  our  mints,  has  invited  piracy  upon  our  com- 
merce, and  now  aims  at  the  possession  of  the  National  capi- 
tal. The  insurrection  must  now  be  met  by  force  of  arms; 
and  to  re-establish  the  Government  upon  an  enduring  basis, 
by  asserting  its  entire  supremacy ;  to  re-possess  the  forts  and 
other  Government  property  so  unlawfully  seized  and  held; 
to  insure  personal  freedom  and  safety  to  the  people  and  com- 
merce of  the  Union  in  every  section,  the  people  of  the  loyal 
States  demand,  as  with  one  voice,  and  will  contend  for,  as 
with  one  heart;  and  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  Pennsylvania's 
sons  will  answer  the  call  to  arms,  if  need  be,  to  wrest  us  from 
a  reign  of  anarchy  and  plunder,  and  secure  for  themselves 
and  their  children,  for  ages  to  come,  the  perpetuity  of  this 
Government  and  its  beneficent  institutions." 


ANDREW  G.  CURTIK  459 

The  concluding  paragraph  of  his  message  is  in  the  follow- 
ing truly  eloquent  and  patriotic  language : 

"You  meet  together  at  thi^  special  season,  surrounded  by 
circumstances  involving  the  most  solemn  responsibilities;  the 
recollections  of  the  glories  of  the  past,  the  reflections  of  the 
gloomy  present,  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  future,  all  alike  call 
upon  you  to  discharge  your  duty  in  a  spirit  of  patriotic  cour- 
age, comprehensive  wisdom,  and  firm  resolution,  ^ever  in  the 
history  of  our  peace-loving  Commonwealth  have  the  hearts 
of  our  people  been  so  stirred  in  their  depths  as  at  the  present 
moment.  And  I  feel  that  I  n«ed  hardly  say  to  you  that,  in 
the  performance  of  your  duties  on  this  occasion,  and  in  pro- 
viding the  ways  and  means  for  the  maintenance  of  our  coun- 
try's glory  and  our  integrity  as  a  nation,  you  should  be  in- 
spired by  feelings  of  self-sacrifice  kindred  to  those  which 
animate  the  brave  men  who  have  devoted  their  lives  to  the 
perils  of  the  battle-field  in  defence  of  our  nation's  flag. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  place  the  honor  of  the  State  in  your  hand's. 
And  I  pray  that  the  Almighty  God,  who  protected  our  lathers 
in  their  efforts  to  establish  this  our  great  constitutional  liberty 
—  who  has  controlled  the  growth  of  civilization  and  Chris- 
tianity in  our  midst,  may  not  now  forsake  us;  that  He  may 
watch  over  your  counsels,  and  may,  in  his  Providence,  lead 
those  who  have  left  the  path  of  duty,  and  are  acting  in  open 
rebellion  to  the  Government,  back  again  to  perfect  loyalty, 
and  restore  peace,  harmony,  and  fraternity  to  our  distracted 
country." 

In  the  meantime  communication  between  the  loyal  States 
and  the  National  capital  had  been  cut  off  by  the  revolt  in 
Baltimore.  The  portion  of  troops  required  from  Pennsyl- 
vania under  the  President's  proclamation  of  the  15th  of  April 
had  been  promptly  furnished,  and  many  more  were  offering 
their  services.  General  Patterson,  who  had  been  assigned  to 
command  in  the  State,  by  reason  of  the  interruption  of  com- 
munication with  his  government  and  chief,  called  upon  Gov- 
ernor Curtin  for  twenty-five  thousand  additional  troops.  He 
at  once  issued  his  proclamation,  and  the  response  surpassed 


460     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  Of  1838. 

• 

all  expectation.  From  every  part  of  the  State  men  came 
singly,  in  squads  and  in  companies,  and  the  requisition  was 
in  rapid  process  of  being  filled,  when,  upon  the  re-opening 
of  communication  through  Baltimore  with  Washington,  an 
order  was  received  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  revoking 
General  Patterson's  requisition,  for  the  reason,  as  stated,  that 
the  troops  were  not  needed,  and  that  less  than  the  number 
already  called  for  would  be  preferred  to  an  excess. 

But  Governor  Curtin  better  understood  the  magnitude  of 
the  impending  conflict,  and  he  resolved  to  prepare  for  it 
according  to  his  appreciation  of  the  public  danger.  With  a 
long  line  of  southern  border  exposed  to  the  sudden  incur- 
sions of  the  enemy,  and  the  National  army  composed  of  only 
three-months'  men,  and  likely  even  with  these  to  be  outnum- 
bered in  the  field,  he  determined  not  to  rely  upon  the  mis- 
taken conceptions  of  the  National  authorities  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  State.  Thousands  of  men  were  already  in  camp, 
or  were  on  their  way,  their  services  having  been  accepted, 
when  the  order  of  revocation  was  received.  Governor  Cur- 
tin,  instead  of  disbanding  them,  directed  that  they  preserve 
their  organization,  and  immediately  applied  to  the  Legisla- 
ture for  authority  to  form  a  corps  of  thirteen  regiments  of 
infantry,  one  of  cavalry,  and  one  of  artillery,  to  be  organized 
and  equipped  by  the  State,  to  be  subject  to  the  call  of  the  Na- 
tional Government  if  needed,  and  to  be  at  all  times  in  readi- 
ness for  immediate  service.  The  requisite  authority  was 
granted,  though  not  without  opposition  from  those  who  sym- 
pathized in  the  opinions  of  the  Washington  authorities  that 
the  danger  would  be  soon  passed,  and  the  result  was  the 
organization  of  the  afterwards  famous  Pennsylvania  Reserve 
Corps.  Before  its  formation  .was  entirely  completed,  the  wis- 
dom and  patriotism  of  the  Governor  in  recommending  it 
were  vindicated ;  for  there  came  from  the  Secretary,  who  a 
few  weeks  before  had  refused  to  sanction  the  raising  of  more 
troops  because  they  were  not  needed,  a  pressing  appeal  to 
have  the  Reserves  sent  forward  with  all  possible  dispatch  to 
the  capital ;  and  when  before  the  disasters  at  Bull  Run  the 


ANDREW  G.  CURTIN.  461 

nation  stood  appalled,  and  the  capital  was  exposed  to  the 
attacks  of  the  enemy,  Pennsylvania  had  a  military  force  well 
organized  and  equipped  for  the  field  to  march  at  once  to 
strengthen  and  reinspire  the  Union  Army. 

The  reputation  of  the  State  for  promptness  in  furnishing 
troops  when  called  for  by  the  National  Government,  was  thus 
maintained  throughout  the  entire  period  of  the  struggle. 
While  thus  zealous  in  the  nation's  cause,  he  was  mindful 
also  that  Pennsylvania  was  an  empire  in  itself,  and  that  its 
vast  wealth  and  resources  were  constantly  tempting  the 
enemy  to  devastate  it.  He  never  asked  that  the  armies  in 
the  field  should  he  diminished  to  protect  the  State,  or  main- 
tain its  authority ;  but  while  promptly  forwarding  troops  to 
the  front  as  fast  as  called  for,  he  was  always  anxious  to  raise 
forces  for  local  protection  in  addition  to  these.  In  1864  he 
had  just  completed  the  organization  of  five  thousand  men  for 
the  defence  of  the  southern  border ;  but  the  disasters  which 
overtook  General  Hunter  in  the  upper  Shenandoah  Valley 
rendered  necessary  that  they  should  be  sent  to  the  relief  of 
his  shattered  army.  The  border  being  thus  stripped  of  de- 
fenders, the  enemy  made  a  sudden  incursion  and  laid  in  ruins 
the  town  of  Chambersburg. 

Governor  Curtin's  administration  was  likewise  conspicuous 
for  the  beneficent  and  merciful  policy  adopted  to  temper  the 
terrible  scourge  of  war.  He  was  ceaseless  in  his  devotion  to 
the  interests  and  the  wants  of  those  whom  the  State  had 
given  for  the  national  defence.  He  went  to  the  field,  and 
visited  them  in  their  camps,  —  not  with  pomp  and  ceremony, 
but  to  encourage  them  by  personal  intercourse.  In  the  hos- 
pital he  solaced  the  dying,  gave  words  of  hope  to  the  wounded 
and  suffering,  and  bore  messages  of  affection  to  and  from 
loved  ones  at  home.  No  letter  from  a  soldier  at  the  front, 
whether  officer  or  private,  was  ever  received  without  being 
promptly  answered.  It  mattered  not  how  impossible  was  the 
request,  if  it  could  not  be  granted,  the  reason  of  the  refusal 
was  Ldndly  told.  In  every  time  of  suffering  and  discourage 
ment  the  soldier  felt  that  he  who  represented  the  power  and 


462     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

majesty  of  the  Commonwealth  at  home  was  mindful  of  hirn. 
Wherever  were  sickness,  or  wounds,  or  death,  there  was  the 
official  agent  of  the  State  to  perform  every  duty  to  the  living 
and  the  last  rites  to  the  dead.  The  bodies  of  the  deceased 
were  brought  back  to  sleep  with  their  kindred,  and  their 
names  enrolled  in  the  lists  of  the  martyred  patriots. 

Nor  was  the  solicitude  of  the  Governor  confined  to  the 
soldier.  He  beheld  his  family  broken,  and  left  without 
support  and  protection  by  his  death.  The  desolate  hearth- 
stone and  the  moans  of  the  bereaved  excited  his  sym- 
pathy, and  he  applied  himself  vigorously  to  the  originating 
of  a  system  of  care  and  instruction  for  the  orphans  of  the 
fallen  slain,  which  should  make  the  State  their  guardian  and 
supporter  until  of  sufficient  age  to  provide  for  themselves. 
He  was  successful  in  his  humane  and  patriotic  endeavors. 
The  Legislature  gave  an  attentive  ear  to  his  appeals,  and 
has  voted  liberally  millions  of  money  for  this  worthy  object. 
The  fruits  of  this  expenditure  will  be  most  abundant.  A 
body  of  well-instructed  and  morally  trained  young  men  and 
women  will  be  given  to  the  Commonwealth,  instead  of  an 
equal  number  of  the  offspring  of  ignorance  and  want,  which 
would  almost  inevitably  have  been  the  result  had  they  been 
left  to  neglect.  Besides,  it  was  a  just  debt  which  the  State 
owed  to  the  brave  men  who  had  fallen  in  its  defence  that 
their  children  should  be  cared  for  at  its  expense. 

At  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  one  of  the  institutions 
established  for  their  education,  that  at  McAllisterville,  pre- 
sided over  by  Colonel  George  F.  McFarland,  himself  a 
maimed  soldier,  one  of  the  speakers  on  that  occasion  said : 
"  Amid  the  vicissitudes  of-  the  camp,  and  the  march,  and  the 
carnage  of  the  battle-field,  many  of  them  fell  never  more  to 
return  to  their  homes,  to  their  friends,  and  to  their  once 
happy  families.  The  children  t)f  many  of  these  fallen  patriots 
were  left  without  either  father  or  mother,  and  often  with  no 
one  to  care  for  or  protect  them.  Ignorant  of  a  mother's  love, 
and  robbed  of  a  father's  tender  care,  the  cry  of  the  orphan 
appealed  for  pity ;  and,  thanks  to  a  kind  Providence,  the  ear 


ANDREW  G.  CURTIN.  463 

» 

of  one  man  in  Pennsylvania  was  not  heavy.  That  man  was 
Governor  Curtin!  He  whose  sympathies  were  the  first  to  be 
touched,  and  whose  generous  nature  first  responded  to  the 
cry,  was  our  honored  Chief  Magistrate.  He  first  conceived 
the  idea  of  making  the  orphans  of  the  soldiers  the  children 
of  the  State !  And  through  evil  report  and  through  good 
report,  he  has  clung  to  that  idea  with  a  lion-hearted  resolu- 
tion, until  he  has  seen  his  plan  successfully  consummated. 
For  his  arduous  and  patriotic  labors  during  the  past  six  years, 
and  for  his  many  services  to  the  State,  the  name  of  Andrew 
G.  Curtin  will  be  illustrious  in  its  annals.  But  when,  in  the 
fulness  of  his  years,  he  shall  be  laid  in  an  honored  grave,  no 
prouder  line  will  be  found  inscribed  upon  his  tombstone  than 
this :  '  HE  MADE  THE  ORPHANS  OF  THE  SOLDIERS  THE  CHILDREN 
OF  THE  STATE ! ' " 

In  1863,  Governor  Curtin  was,  from  his  arduous  labors, 
broken  in  health,  and  was  compelled  to  give  himself,  for 
wee"ks  at  a  time,  to  the  exclusive  care  of  an  eminent  physi- 
cian in  New  York.  President  Lincoln,  appreciating  his  ser- 
vices, and  recognizing  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  climate 
and  employment,  formally  tendered  him  a  first-class  Foreign 
Mission,  which  the  Governor  signified  his  willingness  to 
accept  when  his  term  should  expire.  But  in  the  meantime 
he  was  nominated  for  re-election;  and  relinquishing  his  in- 
tention of  going  abroad,  he  accepted  the  call  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  again  entered  upon  the  canvass.  Thousands  of 
voters  were  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Commonwealth,  facing 
a  still  defiant  foe;  but  they  generally  favored  the  re-election 
of  Governor  Curtin  ;  and  few  letters  were  dispatched  by  them 
to  friends  at  home  that  did  not  contain  appeals  to  support  the 
man  who  was  generally  known  at  the  front  as  the  "  Soldier's 
Friend."  He  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  over  fifteen 
thousand  votes. 

In  1864,  Governor  Curtin  was  so  much  reduced  by  sick- 
ness that  his  life  was  despaired  of;  and  in  November  of  that 
year  he  was  ordered  by  his  physicians  to  spend  the  Revere 
winter  months  in  Cuba,  and  thither  he  sailed.  President 


464     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 
r 

Johnson  tendered  him  a  Foreign  Mission,  but  he  felt  that  he 
could  not  accept  it  without  compromising  his  position  before 
the  people,  and  he  declined.  In  1867,  he  was  a  prominent 
candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate,  where  a  large  circle 
of  his  friends  were  desirous  of  placing  him ;  and  in  1868,  he 
was  warmly  supported  for  Vice-President  in  connection  with 
General  Grant.  Soon  after  the  latter's  inauguration,  he 
nominated  Governor  Curtin  for  Minister  to  Russia,  and  the 
nomination  was  promptly  confirmed  by  the  Senate.  Just 
before  embarking  for  his  new  duty  he  was  the  recipient  of  a 
marked  evidence  of  devotion.  The  Councils  of  Philadelphia 
unanimously  invited  him  to  a  public  reception  in  Indepen- 
dence Hall,  and,  in  addition,  the  leading  citizens,  without 
distinction  of  party,  united  in  giving  him  a  banquet  at  the 
Academy  of  Music,  that  has  perhaps  never  been  equalled  for 
elegance  and  every  manifestation  of  popular  affection  and 
applause. 

He  sailed  in  June,  1869,  and  in  the  discharge  of  his  diplo- 
matic duties  he  has  proven  himself  one  of  the  most  popular 
representatives  which  the  nation  has  sent  abroad.  In  the 
convention  of  the  Liberal  Republicans  held  in  Cincinnati  in 
May,  1872,  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  regular  Republican  Con- 
vention at  Philadelphia,  shortly  afterwards,  Governor  Curtin 
had  a  highly  respectable  number  of  delegates  who  were  de- 
sirous of  nominating  him  for  the  Vice-Presidency.  In  senti- 
ment, Governor  Curtin,  while  adhering  firmly  to  those  car- 
dinal doctrines  of  the  Republic,  which  he  believes  conducive 
to  personal  liberty  and  equality  before  the  law,  and  a  general 
government,  on  the  other  hand,  respected  at  home  and 
abroad  for  its  inherent  strength,  nevertheless  inclines  to  a 
conservative  exercise  of  both  prerogative  and  power. 

In  person,  Governor  Curtin  is  tall  and  commanding,  with 
a  broad,  massive  head,  and  deep  chest,  indicative  of  great 
power,  blue  eyes,  and,  in  youth,  chestnut  hair.  His  appear- 
ance before  a  popular  audience  is  inspiring;  his  eye  is  lit 
with  the  fires  of  enthusiasm,  his  nostrils  are  dilated,  and  his 
action  bold  and  commanding,  suggesting  the  model  of  oratory 
in  the  best  of  the  classic  days. 


ANDREW  G.  CURTIN:  465 

Governor  Curtin  married  Catharine,  daughter  of  William 
J.  Wilson,  M.  D.,  of  Centre  County.  They  have  one  son 
and  four  daughters.  Within  a  few  days  past,  August,  1872, 
Minister  Curtin,  with  his  family,  has  returned  to  this  country. 
His  many  friends  were  anxious  to  accord  him  a  most  hearty 
welcome;  but  with  sorrow  they  read  the  announcement 
flashed  over  the  continent  by  the  electric  current,  that  his 
health  is  greatly  impaired,  and  that  his  physicians  have  en- 
joined seclusion  and  rest. 

30 


JOHN  W.  GEARY. 

GOVERNOR   UNDER   THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1838. 

January  15,  1867,  to  January  21,  1873. 

JOHN"  WHITE  GEARY,  the  youngest  of  four  sons,  was 
*J  born  near  Mount  Pleasant,  Westmoreland  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  30th  of  December,  1819.  The  family  was 
English  and  Scotch-Irish,  but  for  several  generations  his 
ancestors  had  enjoyed  the  privileges  and  honors  of  Amer- 
ican birth.  Richard  Geary,  his  father,  a  native  of  Franklin 
County,  received  a  liberal  education,  and  was  a  man  of  "re- 
fined tastes,  amiable  disposition,  and  superior  moral  excel- 
lence. His  mother,  Margaret  White,  was  born  in  Washington 
County,  Maryland,  and  was  in  all  respects  worthy  to  be  the 
companion  and  help  meet  of  her  husband.  They  removed  to 
Western  Pennsylvania  soon  after  their  marriage,  where  Mr. 
Geary's  attention  being  directed  to  the  mineral  wealth  of  that 
section,  he  was  induced  to  engage  in  the  manufacture  of 
iron.  This  business,  which  has  always  been  attended  with 
serious  risks,  was  much  more  precarious  then  than  now;  and, 
like  many  of  the  iron  manufacturers  of  that  period,  he  was 
unsuccessful,  lost  the  whole  of  his  original  investment,  and 
after  resigning  everything  into  the  hands  of  his  creditors, 
was  left  under  pecuniary  liabilities,  which  he  was  unable  to 
discharge.  In  this  trying  situation  he  fell  back  upon  the  re- 
sources of  his  early  education,  and  opened  a  select  school  in 
Westmoreland  County.  The  remainder  of  his  life  was  there 
devoted  to  a  profession  at  all  times  honorable,  and  imposing 
the  gravest  responsibilities,  but  seldom  lucrative ;  and  from 
his  previous  failure  in  business,  he  died  insolvent,  leaving  his 
family  entirely  dependent  upon  their  own  exertions  for  support. 

466 


JOHN  W.    GEARY.  467 

In  the  midst  of  their  bereavement,  they  were,  however, 
consoled  by  the  remembrance  that  he  whom  they  mourned  had 
led  a  life  of  integrity  and  virtue,  and  had  thus  bequeathed  an 
inheritance  compared  with  which  silver  and  gold  are  but  as 
dross. 

Mrs.  Richard  Geary  inherited  several  families  of  slaves, 
whom  she  first  educated  and  then  manumitted.  The  manu- 
mission of  slaves  was  not  an  event  of  frequent  occurrence  at 
that  period;  and  more  rarely  still  was  the  gift  of  freedom 
preceded  by  an  education  that  would  enable  its  recipients  to 
make  the  most  of  its  advantages.  This  incident,  though 
probably  not  deemed  noteworthy  at  the  time,  became  sug- 
gestive, long  after  the  mother  had  gone  down  to  her  grave, 
of  the  source  whence  her  distinguished  son  drew  that  love  of 
liberty  and  justice  which  has  ever  been  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent characteristics  of  his  eventful  life. 

Being  himself  possessed  of  liberal  culture,  it  was  the 
earnest  desire  of  the  father  that  his  sons  should  receive  a  col- 
legiate education.  Prompted  by  parental  love,  every  sacrifice 
possible  was  made  to  compass  this  end ;  and,  after  passing  the 
usual  course  of  preliminary  studies,  the  youngest  son  was 
entered  a  student  of  Jefferson  College,  at  Canonsburg,  Penn- 
sylvania. By  the  sudden  death  of  the  father,  the  career  of 
the  son  was  for  a  time  interrupted.  That  he  might  suitably 
protect  and  provide  for  his  mother,  he  left  college,  and 
opened  a  school  on  his  own  account.  Favored  by  the  smile 
of  Providence  in  his  self-sacrificing  course  of  filial  duty,  he 
was  enabled  to  discharge  the  sacred  trust  he  had  assumed, 
and  subsequently  to  return  to  his  place  in  college,  where  in 
due  course  he  received  the  honors  of  graduation. 

For  a  time  his  thoughts  turned  to  commercial  pursuits;  but 
convinced  by  a  short  experience  in  a  wholesale  house  in 
Pittsburgh  that  this  would  not  prove  to  him  a  satisfactory 
sphere  of  life,  he  yielded  to  his  natural  predilections  for 
mathematics,  and  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  Civil  En- 
gineering. Having  mastered  the  principles  of  that  profes- 
sion, he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  in  the  belief  that 


468      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

it  would  increase  the  chances  of  a  successful  career,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  though  intending  to  adopt  engineering 
as  his  fixed  vocation.  With  this  end  in  view  he  went  -to 
Kentucky,  where  he  was  engaged,  partly  in  the  employ  of 
the  Commonwealth,  and  partly  in  that  of  the  Green  River 
Railroad  Company,  to  make  a  survey  of  several  important 
lines  of  public  works.  The  compensation  for  these  services, 
with  the  success  of  a  small  land  speculation,  enabled  him  to 
execute  a  long-cherished,  but  undisclosed  purpose  of  his 
heart.  "When  he  returned  from  Kentucky  he  laid  in  the  lap 
of  his  mother  a  sum  of  money  sufficient  to  discharge  the 
whole  amount  of  his  deceased  father's  indebtedness;  and 
then  for  the  first  time  revealed  to  her  what  had  always  been 
his  fixed  intention. 

His  success  in  the  Southwest  opened  the  way  to  advance- 
ment in  his  native  State ;  and  he  soon  after  became  Assistant 
Superintendent  and  Engineer  of  the  Alleghany  Portage 
Railroad.  "While  occupied  with  the  duties  of  this  position, 
events  were  maturing  that  were  soon  to  thrill  the  heart  of  the 
nation,  and  to  test  the  character  of  many  of  its  sons.  In  the 
month  of  May,  1846,  President  Polk  sent  a  message  to  Con- 
gress, informing  that  body  that  "  war  existed  with  this  coun- 
try by  the  act  of  Mexico,"  and  asking  for  men  and  money  to 
enable  him  to  maintain  the  rights  and  vindicate  the  honor  of 
the  Government.  The  burst  of  enthusiasm  was  instantaneous 
and  general.  Possessing  naturally  the  military  instinct,  and 
actuated  by  the  patriotic  impulse  of  the  hour,  Geary  was 
among  the  first  who  responded  to  the  call  for  volunteers, 
and  in  a  short  time  raised  a  company  in  Cambria  County, 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  American  Highlanders.  At 
Pittsburgh,  his  command  was  incorporated  with  the  Second 
Pennsylvania  Regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Roberts,  of 
which  he  was  immediately  elected  Lieutenant-Colonel.  The 
regiment  joined  the  army  of  General  Scott  at  Vera  Cruz, 
and  served  with  conspicuous  gallantry  in  Quitman's  division 
during  the  memorable  advance  upon  the  Mexican  capital. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Geary's  first  experience  of  actual  war  was 


JOHN  W.  GEARY.  469 

in  the  partial,  though  spirited,  action  of  the  Pass  oi  La  Hoya. 
In  the  storming  of  Chapultepec  he  was  wounded;  and  in 
the  assault  upon  the  immediate  defences  of  the  city,  at  the 
Garita  de  Belen,  he  again  led  his  regiment  with  so  much 
judgment,  coolness,  and  intrepidity,  that,  upon  the  capture, 
he  was  assigned  to  the  command  of  the  great  citadel  as  a 
mark  of  Quitman's  appreciation  of  his  services.  From  the 
time  when  the  army  entered  the  valley  of  Mexico,  Colonel 
Roberts  was  disqualified  for  duty  by  sickness,  and  the  com- 
mand of  the  regiment  devolved  upon  the  Lieutenant-Colonel. 
Shortly  after  the  surrender  of  the  capital,  Colonel  Roberts 
died,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Geary  was  elected  to  succeed 
him.  The  duties  of  his  command  were  discharged  with 
entire  satisfaction  to  its  officers  and  men.  During  the  home- 
ward march  discipline  was  strictly  preserved ;  and  when  the 
troops  and  their  commander  separated  at  Pittsburgh,  the 
parting  was  attended  with  many  signs  of  deep  feeling  and 
expressions  of  mutual  esteem  and  regret. 

On  the  22d  of  January,  1849,  President  Polk,  in  grateful 
recognition  of  his  services  in  the  Mexican  "War,  appointed 
Colonel  Geary  Postmaster  of  San  Francisco,  and  Mail  Agent 
for  the  Pacific  coast,  with  authority  to  create  Post  Offices,  ap- 
point Postmasters,  establish  mail  routes,  and  make  contracts 
for  carrying  the  mails  throughout  California.  Having  re- 
ceived his  commission,  with  his  customary  promptness,  he  re- 
turned to  his  home  in  "Westmoreland,  closed  up  his  business, 
and,  on  the  1st  of  February,  in  company  with  his  wife  and 
child,  sailed  from  New  York  for  the  Pacific  coast.  On  the 
1st  of  April,  but  a  little  more  than  two  months  from  the  date 
of  his  commission,  he  landed  safely  at  San  Francisco,  and 
entered  at  once  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  For  a  time 
he  was  obliged  to  content  himself  with  the  rudest  accommo- 
dations, and  to  perform  his  work  under  many  disadvantages. 
But  here,  as  in  all  previous  situations,  his  methodical  turn 
and  practical  tact  soon  enabled  him  to  improvise  all  needful 
facilities,  and  brought  the  labors  of  the  office  under  an  easy 
and  expeditious  management.  Scarcely,  however,  had  these 


470      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

arrangements  been  perfected,  when  he  learned  that  General 
Taylor,  Mr.  Folk's  successor  in  the  Presidency,  had  appointed 
Jacob  B.  Moore  to  the  position  which  he  had  so  briefly  but 
efficiently  occupied. 

The  intelligent  and  obliging  dispatch  with  which  Colonel 
Geary  had  discharged  his  duties  as  Postmaster  and  Mail 
Agent  so  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  people  of 
San  Francisco,  that  when  the  time  arrived  for  the  election 
of  town  officers,  he  was  unanimously  chosen  First  Alcalde, 
though  there  were  ten  different  tickets  submitted  to  the 
choice  of  the  voters.  This  was  only  eight  days  after  his  re- 
moval from  the  office  of  Postmaster.  Shortly  afterwards,  this 
mark  of  appreciation,  on  the  part  of  the  citizens,  was  fol- 
lowed by  another  equally  flattering  on  the  part  of  the  Military 
Governor  of  the  Territory,  Brigadier-General  Riley,  who 
appointed  him  Judge  of  First  Instance.  These  offices  were 
of  Mexican  origin,  and  they  imposed  onerous  and  important 
duties.  The  Alcalde  was  Sheriff,  Probate  Judge,  Recorder, 
Notary  Public,  and  Coroner.  The  Court  of  First  Instance 
exercised  both  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  throughout  the 
city,  and  besides  this*  adjudicated  all  those  cases  arising  under 
the  port  regulations  which  usually  fall  within  the  cognizance 
of  Courts  of  Admiralty.  In  fact,  Judge  Geary  was,  by 
virtue  of  his  double  function,  general  curator  of  the  public, 
and  did  nearly  everything  that  was  to  be  done  either  in  the 
department  of  civil  or  criminal  business.  For  a  considerable 
length  of  time  he  was  the  sole  magistrate,  and  officiated  as 
such  until  the  rapid  increase  of  business  obliged  him  to  re- 
quest the  appointment  of  an  assistant,  when  W.  B.  Almond 
was  created  Judge  of  First  Instance,  with  civil  jurisdiction 
only.  In  the  discharge  of  the  manifold  duties  of  his  judicial 
office,  Judge  Geary  was  eminently  successful.  Of  twenty- 
five  hundred  civil  and  criminal  cases  tried  by  him,  not  more 
than  a  dozen  appeals  were  taken  from  his  decision,  and  none 
of  these  were  sustained.  At  the  close  of  his  first  term  he  was 
re-elected,  receiving  all  but  four  votes  of  the  whole  number 
cast,  and  continued  in  office  until  the  Mexican  institutions 


•      JOHN  W.  GEARY.  471 

were  superseded  by  the  American  forms  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment. 

In  a  vote  upon  the  first  city  charter  and  for  officers  to  serve 
thereunder,  taken  May  1st,  1850,  Judge  Geary  was  elected 
first  Mayor  of  San  Francisco  by  a  large  majority.  As  Mayor, 
he  rendered  valuable  service  in  perfecting  the  municipal  or- 
ganization ;  in  restraining  the  tendency  to  extravagant  ex- 
penditure of  the  public  funds ;  sustaining  the  city's  credit  by 
judicious  management  of  its  finances;  and  by  an  honest 
disposal  of  the  public  property  saved  to  the  corporation  many 
millions  of  dollars.  The  result  was  that,  as  his  official  term, 
drew  to  a  close,  the  Mayor  received  a  communication,  numer- 
ously signed  by  business  firms  and  influential  citizens  of  all 
political  parties,  requesting  that  he  would  consent  to  be  a 
candidate  for  re-election.  But  for  urgent  personal  reasons 
he  felt  himself  obliged  to  decline  their  request.  He  was 
prevailed  on,  however,  to  accept  a  place  on  the  Board  of 
Commissioners,  which  had  been  created  by  the  Legislature 
for  the  management  of  the  public  debt  of  the  city,  and  served 
as  its  President.  In  this  position  the  measures  he  suggested 
tended  to  establish  confidence  in  the  city's  securities,  and 
assure  creditors  that  it  would  keep  its  plighted  faith. 

On  the  1st  of  September,  1849,  a  convention  of  delegates 
assembled  at  Monterey  to  form  a  State  Constitution.  The 
body  included  the  best  talent  and  ripest  political  experience 
of  the  Territory.  In  the  brief  period  of  six  weeks  its  im- 
portant work  was  completed.  Colonel  Geary  was  not  a 
member  of  the  Convention,  but  occupied  such  a  position  in 
the  eye  of  the  public,  and  held  such  relations  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  as  enabled  him  to  exercise  a  potent  influence 
upon  its  deliberations.  How  he  exerted  that  influence  is  well 
known.  As  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  Territorial  Com- 
mittee, he  was  instrumental  in  securing  the  free  State  clause  in 
the  Constitution,  and  the  reference  of  that  instrument  to  the 
people  for  their  sanction.  The  triumph  thus  achieved  secured 
California  to  the  Union  as  a  free  State,  and  warding  off  the 
nightmare  of  slavery,  confirmed  to  that  young  and  prosperous 


472      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  O.P1838. 

Commonwealth  the  boon  of  perpetual  freedom.  The  failing 
health  of  Mrs.  Geary  induced  her  husband  to  return  to  the 
Atlantic  States  sooner  than  he  had  anticipated.  On  the  1st 
of  February,  1852,  he  sailed  from  San  Francisco,  intending 
to  go  back  and  remain  permanently  in  California ;  but  the 
death  of  his  wife,  and  other  circumstances  unforeseen,  caused 
him  to  change  his  purpose,  and  gave  a  new  direction  to  his 
whole  course  of  life. 

Soon  after  abandoning  his  design  of  making  his  home  on 
the  Pacific  coast,  he  embarked  largely  in  farming  and  rearing 
of  stock  in  his  native  county.  These  were  pursuits  in  which 
he  had  always  felt  a  lively  interest,  and  when  the  opportu- 
nity at  last  presented  itself  for  the  gratification  of  his  tastes, 
he  entered  into  his  new  sphere  with  a  purpose  never  to 
abandon  it.  But  man's  ways  are  often  not  of  his  owi? 
choosing.  After  having  spent  about  three  years  in  retire- 
ment, and  had  in  a  measure  brought  the  condition  of  his. 
farm  into  conformity  with  his  own  ideal  of  what  such  an 
estate  should  be,  President  Pierce  invited  him  to  Washington 
for  the  purpose  of  tendering  to  him  the  Governorship  of 
Utah,  which,  after  due  acknowledgment  of  the  compliment, 
he  respectfully  declined. 

Not  the  government  of  Utah  but  of  Kansas  was  the  great 
problem  of  Mr.  Pierce's  administration.  A  bloody  civil 
strife  was  being  waged  in  that  Territory,  and  the  political 
state  of  the  whole  country  was  convulsed  on  the  subject  of 
its  affairs.  One  Governor  had  been  removed  for  refusing  to 
conform  strictly  to  the  Federal  policy  in  regard  to  slavery, 
and  another  was  preparing  to  flee  from  the  Territory  through 
fear  of  assassination.  In  view  of  the  pressing  exigency,  the 
thoughts  of  the  President  reverted  to  Colonel  Geary ;  and 
summoning  him  by  despatch  to  the  Executive  Mansion,  he, 
in  a  long  interview,  set  before  him  the  state  of  affairs  in 
Kansas;  and  appealing  to  him  on  the  grounds  of  patriotism 
and  of  personal  friendship,  urged  him  to  accept  the  Gov- 
ernorship of  the  Territory.  The  Colonel  frankly  stated  what 
were  his  personal  wishes  and  his  plans  for  life,  and  begged 


JOHN  W.  GEAR*.  473 

that  he  might  he  excused  from  accepting  a  trust  involving 
such  grave  responsibilities.  But  the  President,  answering 
his  personal  pleas  by  considerations  of  public  duty,  finally 
prevailed. 

Colonel  Geary  was  commissioned  Governor  of  Kansas  in 
July,  and  proceeded  immediately  to  his  new  field  of  labor, 
arriving  at  Fort  Leavenworth  on  the  9th  of  September, 
1856.  His  administration  extended  only  from  that  date  to 
March,  1857.  He  found  the  Territory  in  arms.  On  the  one 
hand  was  a  party  utterly  reckless  and  violent,  intent  upon  the 
triumph  of  their  policy,  in  defiance  alike  of  the  Acts  of  Con- 
gress and  the  laws  of  their  Territory ;  on  the  other,  a  party 
not  altogether  lawless,  but  equally  determined  to  maintain 
their  rights  as  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Kansas.  The  situation  was  sufficiently  embarrassing 
and  deplorable  in  itself;  but  the  difficulties  which  the 
Governor  was  required  to  meet  and  overcome  were  greatly 
increased  by  the  fact,  that  the  sympathies  and  co-operation  of 
the  people  of  Missouri  were  fiercely  enlisted  in  behalf  of 
their  Kansas  pro-slavery  brethren,  and  that  the  Legislature 
and  the  United  States  Judges  of  the  Territory  were  com- 
mitted to  the  same  side.  In  the  conflict  between  the  two 
parties,  voters  had  committed  perjury,  houses  had  been 
burned,  crops  destroyed,  churches  desecrated,  women  out- 
raged, men  murdered,  and  battles  fought.  Those  scenes  of 
violence  foreshadowed  fearful  days ! 

The  new  Governor  was  not  long  in  ascertaining  the  true 
state  of  affairs,  nor  in  deciding  upon  his  course  of  action. 
Upon  arriving  at  Lecompton,  he  said  to  the  citizens  there 
assembled:  "I  appear  among  you  as  a  stranger  to  most  of 
you,  and  for  the  first  time  have  the  honor  to  address  you 
as  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Kansas.  The  position  was 
not  sought  by  me,  but  was  voluntarily  tendered  and  pressed 
upon  my  acceptance  by  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation. 
I  am  here  because,  as  an  American  citizen,  deeply  conscious 
of  the  blessings  which  flow  from  our  beloved  Union,  I  did 
not  feel  myself  at  liberty  to  ahrink  from  any  duties,  however 


474      GOVERNORS  UNDER   CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

delicate  and  onerous,  required  of  me  by  my  country.  With 
a  full  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  surrounding  the  Ex- 
ecutive office,  I  have  deliberately  accepted  it;  and,  as  God 
may  give  me  ability,  I  will  endeavor  to  faithfully  meet  its 
varied  requirements.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Organic  Law  of  the  Territory  will  be  the  lights  by 
which  I  shall  be  guided  in  my  official  action."  The  same  just 
and  patriotic  sentiments  pervaded  his  first  message  to  the 
Territorial  Legislature.  "  I  will,"  said  he,  "  administer  equal 
and  exact  justice  to  all  men  of  whatever  political  or  religious 
persuasion." 

Acting  upon  these  principles  of  right,  the  Governor's 
policy  was  quickly  productive  of  the  happiest  results.  The 
pro-slavery  party,  expecting  his  active  sympathy,  violently 
denounced  his  impartiality.  The  anti-slavery  party,  smarting 
under  the  sense  of  their  wrongs,  accused  him  of  excessive 
lenienej-  toward  their  enemies.  But  he  firmly  refused  to 
incline  to  either  side,  and  by  the  exercise  of  a  vigilant  and 
strong  authority,  managed  to  restrain  both  factions,  and  bring 
them  withm  the  bounds  of  law  and  order.  The  armies  which 
he  found  facing  each  other  were  disbanded  and  sent  to  their 
homes.  The  courts  were  regularly  convened ;  the  laws  were 
duly  enforced ;  life  and  property  were  adequately  protected. 
In  less  than  one  month  from  the  day  on  which  he  assumed 
the  Executive  functions,  he  was  enabled  to  address  the  Hon. 
William  L.  Marcy,  Secretary  of  State,  in  the  following  terms : 
"  Peace  now  reigns  in  Kansas.  Confidence  is  being  grad- 
ually restored.  Citizens  are  resuming  their  ordinary  pursuits. 
Settlers  are  returning  to  their  claims,  and  general  gladness 
pervades  the  community."  Thus  was  the  state  of  things 
realized  which  the  Federal  authorities  at  Washington  hoped 
for  at  the  time  of  his  appointment.  It  was  expected,  how- 
ever, that  peace  would  be  restored  to  the  Territory  in  such  a 
manner  as  would  insure  the  ascendency  of  the  pro-slavery 
party,  and  the  admission  of  the  Territory  into  the  Union  as  a 
Slave  State.  But  Governor  Geary  could  not  comprehend  how 
the  Organic  Act  rould  be  made  to  bear  a  construction  which 


JOHN  W.  GEARY.  475 

would  inevitably  produce  that  result;  nor  how,  in  view  of  his 
oath,  he  could  be  a  party  to  such  an  issue  without  first  com- 
mitting perjury.  He  accordingly  followed  the  line  of  the 
law.  Under  the  protection  of  the  law,  anti-slavery  immi- 
gration rapidly  increased,  and  anti-slavery  sentiment  grew 
stronger  every  day.  It  was  soon  perceived  in  the  pro- 
slavery  circles,  both  of  Lecompton  and  Washington,  that  if 
he  continued  in  the  office  of  Governor,  Kansas  would  be 
lost  to  slavery  forever.  Applications  were  therefore  poured 
in  upon  the  President  from  the  Territory  for  his  removal. 
Had  Mr.  Pierce  remained,  he  would  doubtless  have  listened 
and  consented.  But  his  term  had  expired,  and  James 
Buchanan  had  succeeded  to  the  Chief  Magistracy.  The 
Governor  well  knew  the  character  of  the  new  President,  and 
what  would  be  his  policy.  Accordingly,  on  the  very  day  of 
his  inauguration,  he  forwarded  to  him  the  following  letter  of 
resignation : 

"  EXECUTIVE  DEPAKTMENT,  KANSAS  TERRITORY, 

LECOMPTON,  March  4,  1857. 
"His  EXCELLENCY,  JAMES  BUCHANAN, 

President  of  the  United  States : 

"Dear  Sir: — Please  accept  my  resignation  as  Governor  of 
Kansas  Territory,  to  take  effect  on  the  20th  of  the  present 
month,  by  which  time  you  will  be  enabled  to  select  and 
appoint  a  proper  successor. 

"With  high  respect,  your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  W.  GEARY." 

The  fatal  project  of  disunion  by  force  of  arms  was  now 
being  carefully  matured  by  leading  Southern  men.  The 
opportunity  was  regarded  as  in  every  way  auspicious.  Dis- 
cerning minds  on  the  opposite  side  in  the  great  struggle 
clearly  saw  that  the  crisis  was  approaching,  and  by  a  power- 
ful appeal  to  the  country  succeeded  in  carrying  the  impend- 
ing Presidential  election  in  the  interests  of  freedom.  The 
South,  feeling  that  the  decisive  moment  had  come,  declined 


476     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

to  give  Mr.  Lincoln  a  trial,  or  even  to  wait  for  his  inaugu- 
ration. 

Any  one  who  knew  the  principles  and  character,  the  private 
and  public  antecedents  of  Governor  Geary,  could  not  for  a 
moment  doubt  as  to  which  side  he  would  take  in  the  gigantic 
conflict  thus  precipitated  upon  the  country.  He  was  at  his 
farm  in  Westmoreland  when  the  sound  of  the  rebellion's  first 
gun  broke  upon  the  ear  of  the  nation.  Early  on  the  morn- 
ing following  the  eventful  day,  he  drove  his  farm-wagon  to 
the  neighboring  village,  and  there  first  heard  the  news  of  the 
assault  upon  Fort  Sumter.  In  less  than  an  hour  after  reading 
the  telegram  he  had  opened  an  office  for  the  enlistment  of 
volunteers.  As  soon  as  he  could  communicate  with  the 
President,  he  tendered  his  services,  and  was  immediately 
commissioned  Colonel,  with  authority  to  raise  a  regiment  for 
the  defence  of  the  Union.  In  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  he 
received  applications  from  sixty-six  companies,  soliciting  per- 
mission to  join  his  command.  On  account  of  the  numerous 
and  urgent  appeals,  he  was  permitted  to  increase  his  regiment 
to  fifteen  companies,  with  one  battery  of  six  guns,  making 
the  full  complement  to  consist  of  fifteen  hundred  and  fifty-one 
officers  and  men.  The  artillery  company  was  that  which 
subsequently  became  so  celebrated  as  Knap's  Battery. 

As  soon  as  the  equipment  of  his  command  was  completed, 
Colonel  Geary  received  orders  to  proceed  to  Harper's  Ferry, 
*  and  report  to  General  Banks,  by  whom  he  was  assigned  to 
the  duty  of  guarding  with  his  regiment  twenty-one  miles  of 
the  Potomac  river.  While  engaged  in  securing  a  quantity  of 
wheat  from  the  enemy's  hands  near  Harper's  Ferry,  he  was 
attacked,  on  the  16th  of  October,  1861,  by  a  force  of  upwards 
of  five  thousand  men,  with  seven  guns,  under  Generals 
Ashby  and  Evans,  and  with  a  force  of  only  one  thousand 
men  and  four  guns  repulsed  them.  In  this  battle,  known  as 
that  of  Bolivar,  the  Colonel  was  wounded  in  the  right  knee. 
It  was  the  first  fight  of  the  regiment,  but  the  men  acted  with 
great  gallantry  and  succeeded  in  capturing  one  gun  from  the 
enemy. 


JOHN  W.  GEARY.  477 

Colonel  Geary  was  given  the  advance  of  the  corps  in  a  for- 
ward movement  made  in  the  following  spring.  On  the  8th  of 
March  he  captured  Leesburg,  and  led  the  van  of  the  column 
which  subsequently  obliged  the  Confederate  forces  to  evacuate 
all  the  towns  north  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  abandon  their 
strongholds  at  Snicker's,  Ashby's,  Manassas,  and  Chester 
Gaps,  in  the  Blue  Mountains.  '  These  operations  were  effected 
while  Stonewall  Jackson  was  within  striking  distance  near 
Winchester ;  and  for  his  share  in  them,  Colonel  Geary  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General,  his  commission 
bearing  date  of  April  25th,  1862.  The  greater  part  of  the 
time  that  he  held  the  rank  of  Colonel  he  had  commanded  a 
brigade,  and  immediately  upon  his  promotion  he  was  as- 
signed to  the  command  of  the  First  Brigade,  Second  Divi- 
sion, Second  Corps,  General  C.  C.  Augur  being  Division 
commander,  and  Major  General  N.  P.  Banks  commander  of 
the  corps. 

By  appointment  of  the  President,  on  the  26th  of  June, 
1862,  Major-General  Jc»hn  Pope  assumed  command  of  the 
army  of  Virginia,  consisting  of  the  corps  of  Fremont,  Banks, 
and  McDowell.  On  the  9th  of  August,  Banks'  troops  had  a 
severe  engagement  with  Stonewall  Jackson's  at  Cedar  Moun- 
tain. The  day  was  oppressively  hot,  and  the  Union  troops 
suffered  much  from  exhaustion,  but  still  more  from  the  fierce 
and  well-directed  assaults  of  that  great  commander.  General 
Geary  was  wounded  slightly  in  the  left  foot  and  severely  in 
the  right  arm.  The  battle  was  gallantly  contested,  but  the 
results  were  adverse  to  the  Union  arms. 

The  wound  in  the  arm  proved  so  serious,  that,  to  save  the 
limb  from  amputation,  he  was  ordered  Home  for  treatment. 
At  the  close  of  this  campaign,  General  Banks  was  transferred 
to  the  command  of  the  Department  of  the  South,  General 
Slocum  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  Twelfth  Corps, 
and  General  Geary  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  the 
Second  Division. 

The  Twelfth  Corps  did  not  participate  in  the  battle  of 
Fredericksburg.  Shortly  after  his  defeat  in  that  engagement, 


478    GOVERNORS   UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

General  Burnside  was  relieved  of  the  command  of  the  army 
of  the  Potomac,  at  his  own  request,  and  was  succeeded  hy 
General  Hooker. 

The  balance  of  the  winter  and  the  first  weeks  of  spring 
were  spent  in  bringing  the  army  to  a  state  of  efficiency,  and 
in  forming  a  comprehensive  plan  of  campaign.  Having 
crossed  the  Rappahannock  and  Rapidan,  on  the  1st,  2d,  and 
3d  of  May,  Hooker  gave  battle  to  Lee  at  Chancel  lorsville. 
General  Geary  was  wounded  in  the  breast  by  a  fragment  of 
shell,  and  the  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  of  his  Division, 
during  the  three  days,  amounted  to  one  thousand  two  hun 
dred  and  nine  men.  Five  battle-flags  were  captured,  and  a 
loss  exceeding  its  own  was  inflicted  upon  the  enemy.  After 
the  battle  the  Division  went  into  camp  at  Acquia,  where  it 
remained  until  Lee's  invasion  of  Pennsylvania  summoned  it? 
commander  to  the  defence  of  his  native  State. 

The  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  fought  on  the  1st,  2d,  and  3d 
of  July.  The  troops  of  Geary's  division  were  among  the 
first  of  the  corps  to  arrive  at  the  Scene  of  action.  On  the 
1st,  General  Geary,  suggesting  the  importance  of  possessing 
Round  Top,  was  directed  to  occupy  it  with  a  portion  of  his 
command.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  2d  he  was  ordered 
to  Gulp's  Hill,  the  extreme  right  of  the  Union  line,  with  in- 
structions to  hold  his  position  at  every  hazard.  During  the 
afternoon  of  that  day  he  was  remanded  in  the  direction  of 
Round  Top,  with  a  part  of  his  division,  to  strengthen  the  left 
centre  of  Meade's  line,  which,  being  hard  pressed,  was  in 
danger  of  giving  way.  As  soon  as  the  relief  he  brought 
could  be  spared,  he  hastened  back  to  Gulp's  Hill,  and  on  his 
arrival,  at  about  9  o'clock  at  night,  he  found  that  in  his  ab- 
sence the  enemy  had  carried  a  part  of  his  line,  and  flanked 
the  position  which  he  had  received  orders  to  hold.  Suitable 
dispositions  were  made  during  the  night  to  meet  the  emer- 
gency ;  and  at  3  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  3d,  placing 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  Division,  he  charged  the  enemy, 
recovered  the  ground  that  had  been  lost,  hastily  strengthened 
his  line  of  breastworks,  and  awaited  the  return  of  Ewell'a 


JOHN  W.  GEARY.  479 

veterans.  The  maintenance  of  the  position  was  of  the  utmost 
moment,  for  it  commanded  the  Baltimore  turnpike-,  on  which 
the  supply  and  ammunition  trains  of  the  army  were  parked, 
and  had  it  been  lost,  these  would  have  been  captured,  the  rear 
of  Meade's  centre  would  have  been  gained,  and  general  defeat 
must  have  inevitably  followed.  No  one  comprehended  the 
value  of  the  position  better  than  the  rebel  commander.  Hence 
the  furious  assaults  that  were  made  upon  it  with  the  hope  of 
seizing  the  last  chance  of  victory.  During  seven  hours  the 
enemy  shelled  Geary's  lines  almost  incessantly,  and,  under 
cover  of  his  batteries,  made  repeated  attempts  to  carry  the 
Hill  at  the  point  of  the,  bayonet.  But  the  charges  were  as 
gallantly  repulsed  as  they  were  made,  the  batteries  were  si- 
lenced, and  the  enemy  withdrew  to  join  the  general  retreat 
which  followed  the  close  of  the  day.  As  long  as  the  grove 
of  battle-scarred  trees  that  covers  Gulp's  Hill  shall  be  left 
standing,  the  gallant  sons  of  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, comprising  Geary's  Division,  will  not  lack  testimonials 
of  their  heroic  devotion  to  the  honor  of  iJ*e  Union  and  in- 
tegrity of  their  country.  Twelve  hundred  Confederate  dead 
were  buried  in  front  of  Geary's  lines  the  day  after  the  battle. 
After  Gettysburg  came  Chickamauga.  The  defeat  of  Rose- 
cranz  in  that  battle  made  it  necessary  to  reinforce  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  and  for  that  purpose  the  llth  and 
12th  Corps,  under  General  Hooker,  were  detached  from  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  Geary's  division  went  with  the  12th 
Corps.  Besides  these  troops,  others  were  hurried  forward  to 
the  scene  of  the  late  disaster ;  and  Grant,  having  laid  Vicks- 
burg  in  the  dust,  and  re-opened  the  Mississippi,  now,  by 
order  of  the  President,  hastened  to  the  mountains  of  the  Ten- 
nessee, and  assumed  command.  He  immediately  initiated  a 
series  of  movements  designed  *to  dislodge  Bragg  from  the 
formidable  position  which  he  had  gained.  In  pursuance  of 
his  masterly  plan  a  battle  was  fought  at  Wauhatchie  on  the 
28th  of  October,  1863 ;  another  at  Lookout  Mountain  on  the 
24th  of  November ;  one  at  Mission  Ridge  on  the  25th  of  No- 
vember, and  a  fourth  on  the  27th  of  November  at  Ringgold, 


480      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

in  the  State  of  Georgia.  These  battles,  fought  and  won  iu 
rapid  succession,  were  the  principal  achievements  of  Grant's 
Chattanooga  campaign,  in  the  course  of  which  the  disasters 
of  Chickamauga  were  gloriously  retrieved,  and  Bragg,  hurled 
from  heights  which  he  had  deemed  inaccessible,  was  driven 
across  the  Tennessee  line. 

The  historian  will  ever  associate  the  name  of  General 
Geary  with  the  great  events  of  this  brilliant  campaign.  With 
fifteen  hundred  men  of  his  Division,  he,  unaided,  fought  the 
battle  of  Wauhatchie,  repulsing  a  night  attack  by  one  of 
Longstreet's  divisions,  at  least  six  thousand  strong.  From 
his  position  on  Lookout  Mountain  the  enemy  had  observed 
the  movements  of  the  command  during  the  day,  and  at  mid- 
night dashed  down  upon  it,  confidently  anticipating  a  sur- 
prise and  a  capture.  But  knowing  the  enemy  to  be  in  his 
vicinity,  Geary  had  pitched  his  camp  in  order  of  battle. 
The  troops  slept  on  their  arms,  and  were  on  their  feet  and 
in  line  the  moment  the  Rebels  had  discharged  their  first 
volley.  The  General  had  not  slept  at  all,  and  with  his 
horse  saddled  at  the  door  of  his  tent,  was  quickly  at  the  front 
to  direct  and  animate  the  troops.  The  conflict  lasted  seven 
hours,  and  was  unusually  obstinate  and  bloody.  The  artillery 
horses  were  all  killed  or  disabled.  Every  officer  of  the  staff 
was  wounded.  Captain  Edward  R.  Geary,  a  youth  of  eighteen, 
the  General's  oldest  son,  commanding  a  section  of  Knap's 
Battery,  was  pierced  by  a  rifle -ball  through  the  forehead, 
and  fell  dead  in  his  father's  presence.  When  the  day  dawned 
the  enemy  had  retreated,  leaving  behind  him  one  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  killed,  about  an  equal  number  of  prisoners, 
and  five  hundred  stands  of  arms.  General  Slocum,  com- 
mander of  the  Corps,  was  at  Murfreesboro,  and  writing  to 
General  Geary  a  few  days  subsequent  to  the  battle,  said :  "  I 
am  very  happy  to  hear  the  good  reports  which  reach  me  from 
all  sides,  relative  to  the  conduct  of  your  command  in  the 
recent  action.  The  contest  was  one  of  very  great  importance. 
The  highest  credit  is  awarded  to  you  and  your  command, 
not  only  by  General  Thomas,  but  by  all  officers  conversant 


JOHN  W.  GEARY.  481 

with  the  circumstances.  As  I  was  not  with  you,  I  can  claim 
no  portion  of  the  credit  gained,  nor  can  I,  with  good  taste, 
publish  an  order  expressing  thanks  to  you ;  but  I  wish  you 
and  your  command  to  know  that  I  have  been  informed  of  all 
the  facts  in  the  case,  and  that  I  feel  deeply  grateful  for  the 
gallant  conduct  which  has  won  new  laurels  for  our  Corps." 
General  Hooker,  also,  in  an  official  report  to  the  General-in- 
Chief,  said :  "  During  these  operations  a  heavy  musketry  fire, 
with  occasional  discharges  of  artillery,  continued  to  reach  us 
from  Geary.  It  was  evident  that  a  formidable  adversary  had 
gathered  around  him,  and  that  he  was  battering  him  with  all 
his  might.  For  more  than  three  hours,  without  assistance, 
he  repelled  the  repeated  attacks  of  vastly  superior  numbers, 
and  in  the  end  drove  them  ingloriously  from  the  field.  At 
one  time  they  hac^  enveloped  him  on  .three  sides,  under  circumstances 
that  would  have  dismayed  any  officer  except  one  endowed  with  an 
iron  will  and  the  most  exalted  courage." 

As  the  enemy's  position  on  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission 
Ridge  threatened  the  communications  of  the  Federal  army, 
it  was  decided  to  drive  him  from  them.  On  the  24th  of  No- 
vember, Geary's  Division  was  selected  by  General  Hooker  to 
make  an  assault  upon  Lookout.  In  an  hour  after  the  order 
was  received  the  troops  were  in  motion.  Crossing  Lookout 
Creek,  the  Rebel  pickets  were  surprised  and  captured ;  and 
moving  enthusiastically  over  boulders  and  ledges  of  rocks, 
they  advanced  in  the  face  of  a  murderous  fire  until  they  had 
rounded  the  rugged  peak  and  stood  beneath  the  lofty  pali- 
sades. The  contest  at  the  top  was  sharp  but  decisive.  As  the 
mist  which  enshrouded  the  mountain  cleared  away,  the  troops 
in  the  valley  were  for  the  first  time  enabled  to  discern  the 
position  of  their  comrades,  and  the  stars  and  stripes,  with  the 
well-known  white-star  flag  of  the  Second  Division  floating  in 
the  morning  breeze  from  the  beetling  cliff,  announced  the 
victory.  The  trophies  of  the  battle  were  six  flags  and  two 
piece?  of  artillery,  with  over  two  thousand  prisoners.  On  the 
29th,  General  Grant,  desiring  to  see  the  troops  that  fought 
the  BaUk  above  the  Clouds,  rode  over  to  Geary's  camp  in  Wau 

31 


482      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  18b8. 

hatchie  Valley,  and  reviewed  bis  Division.  The  General-in- 
Chief,  as  a  compliment  to  these  brave  men,  brought  with  him 
the  members  of  his  staff  and  all  the  Generals  of  the  combined 
armies  of  the  Cumberland  and  the  Tennessee.  In  the  bat- 
tles of  Mission  Ridge  and  Ringgold,  which  closed  the  cam- 
paign, the  Division  took  a  conspicuous  part. 

On  the  3d  of  December,  General  Geary  issued  a  general 
order  to  the  troops  of  his  division.  Referring  to  the  battles 
of  the  campaign  in  which  they  hafl  participated,  he  said  : 
"For  these  services  I  tender  you  my  heartfelt  thanks;  for 
your  bravery  and  endurance  my  warmest  congratulations; 
for  your  bereavement  in  the  loss  of  so  many  gallant  comrades 
my  sincere  sympathy.  In  all  the  Division  death  could  not 
have  selected  braver  spirits,  nobler  hearts,  than  those  who  have 
laid  their  lives  a  sacrifice  upon  their  country's  altar  in  the  re- 
cent engagements.  Your  gallant  conduct  has  gained  for  you 
the  highest  appreciation  and  esteem  of  the  commanding  Gen- 
erals of  the  army.  It  behooves  us  to  remember  prayerfully 
that  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  is  visible  in  our  late  victories, 
and  that  He  who  holds  in  His  hands  the  destinies  of  nations, 
has,  in  His  goodness,  answered  the  humble  petitions  that  have 
ascended  to  His  heavenly  throne  for  the  triumph  of  our  arms 
in  the  cause  of  our  beloved  country." 

In  the  spring  of  1864  the  Army  of  the  Southwest  was  re- 
organized; and  Grant,  having  been  invested  with  the  rank 
of  Lieutenant-General,  and  appointed  commander-in-chief, 
Sherman  assumed  command  of  all  the  forces  designed  to 
operate  in  the  Southwestern  and  Southern  States.  Among 
other  changes  which  he  ordered,  the  llth  Corps  (Howard's) 
and  the  12th  (Slocum's)  were  consolidated,  becoming  in  this 
form  the  20th  Corps,  with  General  Hooker  in  command. 
General  Geary  was  continued  at  the  head  of  his  old  Division, 
with  the  addition  of  a  brigade  from  the  llth  Corps.  The 
two  great  campaigns  of  this  memorable  year  were  opened 
on  the  same  day.  On  the  4th  of  May  Grant  moved  from  the 
Rapidan  to  encounter  Lee,  and  Sherman  from  Chattanooga 
to  encounter  Johnston.  Sherman's  army  was  complete  in  all 


JOHN  W.   GEARY.  483 

its  appointments,  and  about  seventy  thousand  strong.  The 
events  that  followed  can  but  briefly  be  referred  to  here.  At 
the  head  of  the  division  to  which  he  was  endeared,  and  which 
was  endeared  to  him  by  so  long  a  companionship  in  perils, 
hardships,  sacrifices,  and  sufferings,  Geary  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Mill  Creek,  May  8th;  Resaca,  May  15th;  New 
Hope  Church,  commencing  May  26th,  and  continutng  with 
but  little  intermission  eight  consecutive  days;  Pine  Hill,  June 
15th;  Muddy  Creek,  June  17th;  Noses  Creek,  June  19th; 
Kolb's  Farm,  June  22d;  Kenesaw,  June  27th;  Marietta,  July 
3d ;  Peach  Tree  Creek,  July  20th ;  and  the  siege  of  Atlanta, 
lasting  twenty-eight  days,  and  ending  in  the  capture  of  the 
city  on  the  2d  of  September.  To  use  General  Geary's  own 
language:  "  The  campaign  from  the  opening  till  the  fall  of 
Atlanta  was  really  a  hundred  days'  fight,  and  may  be  termed 
a  continuous  battle,  crowned  with  constant  victory." 

General  Sherman,  having  by  these  operations  reached  the 
objective  point  of  the  skilful  plans  he  had  formed  at  Chatta- 
nooga, entered  at  once  upon  other  plans  and  dispositions. 
Hood  was  left  to  be  confronted  by  Thomas,  and  Sherman, 
with  one-half  of  his  grand  army,  swung  around  upon  his 
pivot  at  Atlanta,  cut  loose  from  his  communications,  and 
commenced  his  famous  march  to  the  sea.  On  the  25th  of 
July,  Hooker  being  relieved  from  command  of  the  20th 
Corps,  at  his  own  request,  Williams,  being  senior  General  of 
division,  succeeded  him,  Geary  still  remaining  in  charge  of 
the  Second  Division.  Charleston,  whose  defences  had  defied 
the  Federal  fleets,  and  Savannah,  deemed  impregnable,  were 
uncovered,  and  restored  to  the  dominion  of  the  Federal  flag. 
After  the  fall  of  Fort  McAllister,  Geary  led  the  advance 
upon  Savannah,  received  the  surrender  of  the  city  at  the  head 
of  his  Division ;  and,  in  recognition  of  his  services  in  the 
capture,  was  appointed  by  Sherman  Military  Governor.  The 
duties  were  delicate,  but  the  General  exercised  his  authority 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  elicit  from  a  public  meeting  of  the 
citizens  presided  over  by  the  Mayor  the  following  expression 
of  sentiment : 


484      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  0 F  1838. 

"Resolved,  That  Major-General  Sherman,  having  appointed 
Brigadier-General  Geary  commander  of  this  post,  who  has, 
by  his  urbanity  as  a  gentleman  and  his  uniform  kindness  to 
our  citizens,  done  all  in  his  power  to  protect  their  persons 
from  insult,  and  their  property  from  injury,  it  is  the  unani- 
mous desire  of  all  present  that  he  be  allowed  to  remain  in  his 
present  position,  and  that,  for  the  reasons  above  stated,  the 
thanks  of  the  citizens  are  hereby  tendered  to  him  and  the 
officers  of  his  command.'' 

It  was  while  he  was  in  command  of  the  city  as  Military 
Governor  that  he  was  breveted  Major-General  of  Volunteers. 
His  commission  was  dated  January  12th,  1865,  and  the  reasons 
assigned  for  his  promotion  in  the  document  itself  were,  "fitness 
to  command  and  promptness  to  execute" 

With  this  flattering  mark  of  his  country's  approval,  he  pre- 
ferred that  the  very  kind  request  of  the  people  of  Savannah 
might  not  be  granted,  and  was  accordingly  permitted  to  take 
the  field  for  the  final  conflict.  During  the  subsequent  opera- 
tions in  the  Carolinas,  his  division  was  engaged  with  the 
enemy  at  the  Apalachee  and  Oconee  rivers,  at  Sandsboro, 
Davidsboro,  Salkahatchie,  North  and  South  Edisto,  Red  Bank, 
Congaree,  Black  River,  and  Bentonville. 

Here,  in  the  vicinity  of  Goldsboro  and  Raleigh,  the  gigantic 
struggle  that  saved  the  republic  and  gave  hope  of  freedom  to 
the  world  was  brought  to  a  close.  .  The  soldiers  of  the  White 
Star  Division  witnessed  the  surrender  of  Johnston,  partici- 
pated in  the  grand  review  at  "Washington,  after  which  they 
were  disbanded,  took  affectionate  leave  of  their  old  com- 
mander, and  returned  to  their  homes.  The  28th  Pennsyl- 
vania Regiment,  which  Geary  had  recruited  at  the  beginning, 
continued  with  him  to  the  end  of  the  war.  The  regiments 
of  his  Division  were  among  the  first  in  the  army  to  re-enlist 
as  veterans.  No  regiment  after  being  assigned  to  his  brigade 
cr  division  ever  left  his  command  till  duly  mustered  out  of 
service.  Such  satisfaction  was  by  no  means  a  general  charac- 
teristic of  the  feelings  of  the  troops  toward  their  commanders. 
It  is  easily  accounted  for  in  the  case  of  General  Geary.  He 


JOHN  W.  GEARY.  485 

required  obedience,  but  he  set  the  example.  He  counted  the 
post  of  danger  in  the  field,  but  he  led  the  way.  Ten  thou- 
sand of  the  men  who  served  under  his  command  were  killed 
and  wounded  during  the  war,  but  he  shed  his  own  blood  as 
freely  as  he  expected  the  same  sacrifice  of  his  subordinates. 
He  cared,  too,  for  the  health  and  comfort  of  his  troops  as 
though  they  were  his  own  children. 

When,  in  the  spring  of  1866,  the  Republican  leaders  began 
to  consider  the  important  question  of  selecting  a  candidate 
for  the  Chief  Magistracy  of  the  State,  it  soon  became  ap- 
parent that  the  name  of  General  Geary  was  everywhere  re- 
ceived with  favor.  His  ripe  experience  in  the  conduct  of 
civil  affairs,  and  his  distinguished  services  in  the  field,  c6m- 
meiided  him  alike  to  the  gratitude  of  the  popular  heart  and 
the  sanction  of  the  popular  judgment.  After  a  very  spirited 
canvass,  he  was  elected  over  his  competitor,  Heister  Clymer, 
by  a  majority  of  over  seventeen  thousand  votes. 

He  was  inaugurated  on  the  15th  of  January,  1867.  "What 
the  personal  sentiments  were  with  which  the  duties  of  his 
high  trust  were  assumed  may  be  best  learned  from  his  own 
language  :  "  Profoundly  sensible  of  everything  that  is  implied 
-by  this  manifestation  of  the  people's  confidence,  and  more 
deeply  impressed  with  the  vast  importance  and  responsibility 
of  the  office  than  elevated  by  its  attendant  honors,  let  it  be 
our  first  grateful  duty  to  return  fervent  thanksgivings  to 
Almighty  God  for  his  constant  Providence  and  innumerable 
blessings  to  us  as  a  people ;  and  especially  mine  to  implore 
His  aid  and  counsel  in  the  discharge  of  civil  trusts,  who  has 
been  my  shield  and  buckler  amidst  scenes  of  peril  and  death. 
That  in  the  administration  of  government  I  may  err  is  only 
what  should  be  expected  from  the  infirmities  of  the  human 
mind;  but  as  I  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  my  responsible 
duties  with  a  firm  resolution  to  act  with  honesty  and  impar- 
tiality, I  trust  my  errors  will  be  regarded  with  charity,  and 
treated  with  the  gentleness  of  magnanimous  forgiveness.  I 
earnestly  hope  that  my  intercourse  with  my  fellow-citizens  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  will  be  so  frank  and 


486      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

cordial,  that  our  duties  to.  a  common  constituency  will  be 
pleasantly  as  well  as  faithfully  discharged.  Different  branches 
of  the  government  as  we  are,  with  distinctive  duties,  we  are, 
nevertheless,  parts  of  one  organized  and  well-regulated  sys- 
tem, and,  as  we  co-operate  or  disagree,  the  interests  of  the 
State  will  probably  be  promoted  or  retarded.  Elected  by  the 
people,  and  desirous  to  promote  the  welfare  of  every  citizen, 
mere  party  differences  should  not  be  allowed  to  interfere 
with  the  maintenance  of  a  generous,  just,  and  comprehensive 
public  policy." 

In  his  first  annual  message  he  alluded  to  the  subject  of 
neglect  of  duty  and  irregular  practices,  charged  against  the 
Legislature,  in  terms  not  to  be  mistaken;  and  in  his  several 
messages  since  he  has  almost  invariably  returned  to  it,  evinc- 
ing thus  a  paramount  desire  to  guard  the  rights  and  interests 
of  the  people,  and  protect  the  character  of  the  government. 
The  suppression  of  the  great  evil  of  special  legislation ;  the 
just  limitation  of  the  powers  and  privileges  of  great  corpora 
tions ;  the  attempt  to  appropriate  the  deposits  of  the  sinking 
fund  for  purposes  foreign  to  the  object  for  which  the  trust 
was  created ;  the  disposition  of  railroad  companies  to  exceed 
the  privileges  of  their  charters;  these,  and  others  of  similar 
import,  are  the  grave  questions  which  he  has  endeavored  to 
meet  and  adjust  with  a  due  regard  to  the  highest  welfare  of 
the  Commonwealth. 

In  his  messages  to  the  General  Assembly  he  has  recom- 
mended a  vigorous  reduction  of  the  State  debt;  the  invest- 
ment of  surplus  funds  in  the  State  Treasury  for  the  benefit 
of  the  State ;  the  adequate  compensation  of  the  State  Treas- 
urer, and  the  increase  of  his  bond  to  such  an  extent  as 
would  oblige  his  sureties  to  make  good  any  possible  amount 
of  defalcation;  the  passage  of  a  free  railroad  law,  with  a 
view  to  checking  the  spirit  of  monopoly,  the  promoting  of 
healthful  competition,  and  the  more  rapid  development  of 
resources ;  the  establishment  of  an  Insurance  Department  for 
the  more  effectual  security  of  such  as  seek  that  mode  of 
protection ;  the  calling  of  a  convention  to  revise  and  improve 


JOHN  W.  GEARY.  487 

the  Constitution  of  the  Commonwealth;  the  more  liberal 
support  and  efficient  supervision  of  common  schools;  the 
tender  and  generous  care  of  the  families  of  deceased  Union 
soldiers ;  the  establishment  of  a  home  for  such  of  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  Union  armies  as  find  themselves  incapable  of 
self-support  with  the  aid  of  their  government  pension ;  the 
proper  encouragement  of  volunteer  militia  organizations;  the 
judicious  aid  of  the  State  Agricultural  College;  and  the  as- 
sistance of  the  various  public  charities  in  a  spirit  befitting  a 
people  who  owe  to  that  Gospel  which  was  first  preached  to 
the  poor  their  freedom  and  their  civilization.  Some  of  the 
•  evils  against  which  his  admonitions  were  directed  have  been 
restrained,  and  in  a  degree  diminished,  if  not  entirely 
removed.  Some  of  his  most  important  recommendations 
have  become  laws,  after  due  consideration  by  the  General 
Assembly.  The  record  of  his  Executive  proceedings  abounds 
with  vetoes,  mainly  directed  against  bills  designed  to  sub- 
serve merely  local  or  personal  ends,  which  were  already  pro- 
vided for  by,  or  were  in  obvious  conflict  with,  existing  general 
enactments. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  first  term  Governor  Gentry  was  re- 
nominated  with  a  unanimity  and  a  cordiality*  that  bore  ample 
testimony  to  the  success  of  his  previous  administration,  and, 
despite  numerous  circumstances  unfavorable  to  success,  was 
re-elected  by  a  majority  of  upwards  of  five  thousand  votes. 

His  second  term  is  now  drawing  to  a  close,  and  this  is  not 
the  time,  if  the  prescribed  limits  of  this  sketch  would  permit, 
to  discuss  and  determine  the  merits  of  his  administration. 
Some  of  the  features  are  peculiar.  For  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  office  a  detailed  record  has  been  kept  of  every 
act  of  Executive  conduct  This  will  be  left  in  the  archives 
of  the  Department.  Accompanying  each  of  his  annual  mes- 
sages is  a  full  list  of  pardons  granted  during  the  year,  with 
the  dates,  causes,  terms  of  sentence,  the  periods  served,  and 
the  names  of  petitioners  for  the  exercise  of  executive  clemency. 
With  one  exception  (Governor  Pollock)  he  has  granted  fewer 
pardons,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  convictions,  than  any 


488      GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

of  his  predecessors.  During  the  first  four  years  of  his  ad- 
ministration the  reduction  of  the  public  debt  per  annum  has 
been  one  million  six  hundred  and  forty-eight  thousand  one  hundred 
and  eighty-seven  dollars. 

As  the  reader  has  observed,  the  life  of  Governor  Geary  has 
been  unusually  diversified,  and  has  extended  over  a  field  as 
wide  as  this  great  country.  In  private  and  subordinate  sta- 
tions, and  in  public  positions  of  civil  and  military  trust,  his 
career  has  been  marked  with  unusual,  indeed,  invariable  suc- 
cess. Though  still  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  has  filled  a  larger 
measure  of  service  than  is  the  lot  of  most  men  who  have  lived 
out  the  full  period  of  human  existence. 

The  intimacy  of  the  author's  personal  relations  to  the  Gov- 
ernor being  known  to  many,  that  fact  will  justify  a  brief 
allusion  to  himself.  He  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  28th 
Pennsylvania  Regiment,  when  it  was  first  recruited,  served  in 
it  till  its  Colonel  was  promoted,  was  then  appointed  as  aid-de- 
camp on  General  Geary's  staff',  and  continued  in  that  position 
to  the  end  of  the  war.  Since  Governor  Geary's  first  inaugu- 
ration the  author  has  occupied  a  confidential  position  near  his 
person.  In  the  preparation  of  this  sketch,  his  aim  has  been 
to  set  down  nothing  in  mere  friendship ;  indeed  the  apprehen- 
sion that  on  account  of  the  intimacy  of  these  relations  he 
might  be  suspected  of  partiality,  has,  more  than  anything  else, 
embarrassed  him,  and  confined  his  narrative  to  a  statement 
of  facts,  which  he  cannot  but  regard  as  bald  and  unattractive. 
Deeming  himself  especially  qualified  to  be  a  witness,  there  is 
one  point  on  which  he  claims  the  right  to  give  his  testimony, 
and  in  doing  so  he  has  only  to  say  that,  for  honesty  and  fidelity 
to  any  trust,  whether  private  or  public,  committed  to  him,  he 
has  seldom  known  the  equal,  and  does  not  expect  to  find  the 
superior  of  John  W.  Geary  among  the  sons  of  men. 

In  person,  Governor  Geary  is  tall,  erect,  and  well  propor- 
tioned. He  exemplifies  the  old  Roman  idea  of  complete 
manhood:  "A  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body."  In  manner, 
he  is  direct  and  cordial.  There  is  nothing  in  his  bearing  that 
would  embarrass  a  stranger,  however  humble ;  and  whether 


JOHN  W.  GEARY.  489 

at  the  head  of  an  army,  or  seated  in  the  chair  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate,  he  has  ever  been  easily  accessible  to  all  classes 
of  applicants  for  his  attention.  Power  of  application,  force 
of  will,  clearness  of  perception,  and  soundness  of  judgment, 
are  his  distinguishing  mental  characteristics;  and  his  moral 
nature  is  so  well  developed  and  strong  that  he  has  wholly 
escaped  the  vices  that  have  destroyed  many  of  the  most  gifted 
men.  This  he  has  partly  inherited  from  his  Puritan  ancestors, 
and  partly  from  the  lips  of  a  Christian  mother,  whose  coun- 
sels seem  never  to  have  been  forgotten. 

Governor  Geary  was  married  on  .the  12th  of  February, 
1843,  to  Margaret  Ann,  daughter  of  James  R.  Logan,  of 
Westmoreland  County.  Three  sons  were  the  issue  of  this 
marriage,  one  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  another,  Edward  R., 
was  killed,  as  has  been  noticed,  in  the  battle  of  Wauhatchie, 
and  the  remaining  one  is  now  a  cadet  at  "West  Point,  in  the 
third  year  of  his  course.  Mrs.  Geary  died  on  the  28th  of 
February,  1853,  and  in  November,  1858,  Governor  Geary  was 
married  to  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Henderson,  daughter  of  Robert  R. 
Church,  of  Cumberland  County,  and  has  issue  of  three 
daughters  and  one  son,  the  latter  the  first  male  child  born  to 
a  Governor  while  exercising  the  executive  trust. 

Since  the  first  edition  of  this  work  was  issued,  Governor 
Geary  retired  from  office,  his  second  term  having  expired 
January  21,  1873.  His  last  annual  message,  which  was  gen- 
erally regarded  as  his  most  able  official  communication, 
evinces  a  thorough  comprehension  of  the  varied  interests  of 
the  Commonwealth ;  forcibly  suggests  the  means  by  which 
they  may  be  most  effectually  promoted;  and,  among  other 
gratifying  statements,  announces  a  reduction  of  the  public 
debt  amounting  to  §10,992,662.54,  being  a  little  over  twenty- 
nine  per  cent,  of  the  State's  liabilities  in  1866. 

The  condition  of  the  country  and  of  the  State  during  the 
period  of  his  administration  was  such  as  to  frequently  render 
his  official  duties  peculiarly  difficult,  New  and  important 
questions  arising  from  the  results  of  the  Civil  War  were  to  be 
considered  and  adjusted.  These  responsibilities  he  assumed 


490    GO  VERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

and  discharged  with  his  usual  firmness  and  intrepidity,  win- 
ning for  himself  the  unqualified  respect  and  confidence  of  the 
masses  of  all  parties. 

Upon  his  retirement,  the  ex-Governor  fixed  his  residence  in 
Harrisburg,  and  instead  of  allowing  himself  the  relaxation 
he  so  much  needed,  at  once  began  to  initiate  plans  for  busi- 
ness upon  an  extensive  scale.  But  truly,  uin  the  midst  of 
life  we  are  in  death."  The  ceaseless  strain  of  public  service, 
in  war  and  in  peace,  had  done  its  work  upon  a  constitution 
that  seemed  incapable  of  exhaustion  or  fatigue.  On  Saturday 
morning,  February  8th,  1873,  as  he  sat  at  breakfast  with  his 
family,  his  head  dropped  suddenly  upon  his  breast,  and  in 
that  instant  "the  golden  bowl  was  broken,  and  the  spirit 
returned  to  God  who  gave  it."  Words  are  inadequate  to 
express  the  sensation  produced  in  the  Capital,  and  throughout 
the  Commonwealth  and  country,  by  an  event  so  unexpected 
and  mournful.  The  honors  of  a  public  funeral  were  accorded 
to  the  distinguished  dead,  and  now  near  the  scene  of  his  last 
official  honors  and  responsibilities  he  sleeps  in  the  bosom  of 
the  State  he  had  served  so  faithfully  and  loved  so  well. 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT, 

GOVERNOR   UNDER  THE   CONSTITUTION   OF    1838. 

January  21,  1873,  to  January . 

JOHN  FREDERICK,  son,  and  only  child,  of  Samuel  E.  and 
*J  Lydia  Bucher  Hartranft,  was  born  in  New  Hanover  Town- 
sLip,  Montgomery  County,  Pennsylvania,  December  16th, 
1830.  The  family  is  of  German  descent.  Its  ancestors  came 
to  this  country  some  time  between  the  years  1734  and  1746. 
Being  farmers,  they  were  attracted  to  that  fertile  and  beautiful 
section  of  the  State,  where  their  descendants  generally  have 
continued  to  reside. 

The  parents  are  alike  characterized  for  those  personal  vir- 
tues and  practical  habits  which  form  the  basis  of  a  quiet, 
prosperous,  happy  life;  and  now,  at  an  advanced  age,  are 
permitted  to  witness  and  participate  in  the  honors  of  their 
distinguished  son. 

Thirty  years  ago,  the  common-school  system  of  Pennsyl- 
vania was  in  its  infancy ;  and  select  schools  had  not  reached 
that  degree  of  efficiency  which  they  have  since  attained. 
Facilities  for  the  instruction  of  young  children  were  especially 
meagre  and  incomplete.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  received 
his  first  school  lessons  in  his  sixth  .year.  At  the  age  of  ten, 
he  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  placed  under  the  tuition  of 
Dr.  John  F.  Evai.s,  and  after  two  years  with  him  passed  suc- 
cessively into  th3  hands  of  Mr.  Philip  Cressman  and  Mr. 
Samuel  Aaron,  —  gentlemen  noted  for  their  proficiency  as 
educators.  In  his  seventeenth  year,  he  entered  the  prepara- 
tory department  of  Marshall  College,  then  located  at  Mer- 
cersburg,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  continued  two  years,  and 
when  ready  to  enter  the  Sophomore  class,  was  transferred  to 

491 


492    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

Union  College,  Schenectady,  New  York,  then  under  the 
presidency  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott.  During  his 
studies  at  Union,  he  ranked  well  in  all  his  classes;  but  as 
civil  engineering  was  to  be  his  profession,  he  gave  special 
attention  to  mathematics,  and  in  that  branch  excelled  the 
majority  of  his  classmates.  In  three  years  he  completed  the 
collegiate  course,  graduating,  in  1853,  with  credit  for  scholar- 
ship, and  bearing  from  his  Alma  Mater  the  esteem  of  his 
instructors  and  associates.  In  March  of  his  year  of  gradua- 
tion he  joined  an  engineer  corps,  employed  to  survey  a  rail- 
road route  from  Wilkesbarre  to  the  Delaware  Water  Gap, 
returning  in  July  to  attend  the  commencement  exercises  of 
his  college,  and  receive  his  diploma.  After  fulfilling  another 
brief  engagement  of  a  similar  character,  at  the  request  of  his 
father — who  desired  his  companionship  and  assistance  in  his 
own  business  —  he  promptly  abandoned  a  profession  that  had 
been  his  supreme  wish,  and  for  which  his  education  had  been 
specially  designed.  And  if  the  history  of  his  life  teaches  the 
young  men  of  his  native  State,  and  of  the  country,  any  one 
lesson  more  effectually  than  another,  it  is  that  of  filial  affection 
and  duty  as  the  open  highway  to  honor  and  distinction. 

In  the  summer  of  1854,  he  assumed  his  first  political  trust 
by  accepting  the  position  of  Deputy,  under  M.  C.  Boyer,  Esq., 
who  was  then  Sheriff  of  Montgomery  County.  The  Sheriff 
being  a  Whig,  the  election  of  a  Democratic  Deputy  was  indic- 
ative of  an  unusual  degree  of  confidence  in  his  character  and 
qualifications.  At  the  next  regular  election,  in  1855,  S.  D. 
Rudy,  Esq.,  —  a  Democrat, — was  the  successful  candidate  for 
the  sheriftalty;  and  the  Democratic  Deputy  of  his  Whig  pre- 
decessor having  performed  his  duties  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  all  parties  was  continued  in  office. 

It  often  happens  that  insignificant  causes  determine  the 
events  of  human  destiny.  The  appointment  of  John  F. 
Hartranft  as  Deputy-Sheriff  of  his  native  county  may  be 
taken  as  an  illustration.  By  enlarging  the  sphere  of  his 
acquaintance,  and  identifying  him  with  political  affairs,  it 
gave  a  direction  to  the  current  of  his  future  life  that  he  had 
never  anticipated  nor  desired. 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  493 

During  the  two  terms  of  service  as  Deputy-Sheriff,  he  read 
law  under  the  tuition  of  James  Bojd,  Esq.,  of  the  Norristown 
bar;  arid  as  the  rule  of  court  required  a  year's  study  in  a  law- 
office,  in  order  to  admission,  he  entered  the  office  of  A.  B. 
Longaker,  Esq.,  and  having  fulfilled  the  condition,  and  passed 
a  satisfactory  examination,  was  duly  admitted  in  1859.  Mean- 
while, having  taken  a  lively  interest  in  politics,  his  influence 
was  felt  upon  all  political  questions  which  to  any  extent 
affected  the  feelings  and  views  of  the  community;  and  the 
degree  of  his  personal  popularity,  at  home,  will  be  sufficiently 
indicated  by  the  fact  that  he  was  twice  elected  to  office,  being, 
in  both  instances,  the  candidate  of  the  minority  party. 

But  it  is  upon  his  military,  rather  than  his  civil  record  that 
his  title  to  the  present  consideration  of  his  countrymen  is 
securely  established.  Only  a  bare  outline  of  this  is  all  that 
prescribed  limits  will  allow.  From  the  date  of  his  permanent 
residence  in  Norristown,  he  had  manifested  an  active  interest 
in  military  organizations ;  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  civil 
war  was  Colonel  of  the  1st  Regiment  of  Montgomery  County 
Militia,  consisting  of  six  companies.  Under  the  law  as  it 
then  stood,  five  companies  constituted  a  regiment. 

The  call  of  President  Lincoln  for  seventy-five  thousand 
volunteers  was  issued  on  Saturday,  but  by  some  mishap  did 
not  reach  Norristown  till  the  following  Monday.  Upon  its 
receipt,  Col.  Hartranft  immediately  gave  notice  to  the  com- 
pany commanders  of  his  intention  to  offer  the  services  of  the 
regiment  to  the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  same 
evening  the  citizens  of  Norristown  were  convened,  and  ad- 
dresses were  delivered,  tending  to  excite  popular  enthusiasm 
and  promote  enlistment  for  the  defence  of  the  Union.  Early 
next  morning,  the  Colonel  started  for  Harrisburg,  had  an 
interview  with  the  Governor,  and  was  cordially  accepted. 

In  three  days  seven  companies  were  filled  to  the  required 
standard,  and  on  Saturday  were  reported  at  Harrisburg  for 
duty.  Permission  was  requested  to  recruit  the  remaining 
three  companies  in  Montgomery  County,  but  was  not  granted, 
for  the  reason  that  the  excitement  and  peril  produced  by  the 


491    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

attack  on  the  6th  Massachusetts  in  the  streets  of  Baltimore, 
were  deemed  such  as  to  demand  the  immediate  presence  of 
all  available  troops  on  the  line  of  communication  between  the 
loyal  States  and  the  capital.  Three  companies  were  accord- 
ingly supplied  from  Camp  Curtin.  On  Sunday  night  the 
regiment  moved  down  to  Philadelphia,  reporting  to  General 
Patterson;  and,  as  soon  next  morning  as  transportation  could 
be  procured,  was  forwarded  to  Perryville.  In  the  meantime, 
connection  by  rail  between  that  point  and  Washington  had 
been  severed.  But  after  a  brief  detention,  five  companies 
were  conveyed  by  steamer  to  Annapolis,  where  they  joined 
the  forces  of  General  Butler;  the  remaining  five  following  in 
the  course  of  two  or  three  days.  The  soldiers  were  still 
arrayed  in  citizens'  dress,  and  carried  their  cartridges  in  their 
pockets.  Uniforms,  however,  were  quickly  supplied;  but 
owing  to  haste,  or  the  rascality  of  contractors  at  that  early 
stage  of  the  war,  they  proved  worthless.  Indignant  at  the 
imposition,  Colonel  Hartranft  hastened  back  to  Harrisburg, 
made  complaint  to  the  authorities,  obtained  better  clothing 
for  his  men,  and  on  the  8th  of  May  the  regiment  was  ordered 
to  Washington.  About  the  1st  of  June,  the  command,  having 
received  the  necessary  equipage  from  the  general  Govern- 
ment, was  placed  in  camp.  In  discipline,  the  men  were 
rapidly  improving;  but  they  were  still  the  worst-clothed  troops 
that  Pennsylvania  had  sent  to  the  field.  The  explanation  of 
this  circumstance  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  regiment  was 
hurried  to  the  front,  while  the  others  remained  till  they  had 
received  suitable  equipment.  After  a  brief  period  in  camp, 
Colonel  Hartranft  received  orders  to  report  to  Colonel 
Heintzleman;  and  was  assigned  to  the  brigade  commanded 
by  Colonel  William  B.  Franklin,  which  was  posted  with  a 
view  to  covering  Alexandria.  Nothing  worthy  of  note 
occurred  till  June  30th,  when  Colonel  Hartranft's  outer 
picket-line  was  attacked  by  a  party  of  Confederate  scouts. 
This  was  the  first  instance  in  which  any  portion  of  the  com- 
mand was  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy.  One  man  was 
killed  and  one  wounded.  The  assailants  lost  several  killed 


JOHN  F,  EARTRANFT.  495 

and  wounded ;  and  after  this  exchange  of  shots  the  Rebels 
hastily  retired,  while  the  pickets  fell  back  to  an  inner  line. 

Preparations  were  then  being  made  for  a  general  forward 
movement,  which  soon  culminated  in  the  famous  battle  of 
Bull  Run.  Colonel  Hartranft's  regiment  having  been  mus- 
tered in  on  the  20th  of  April,  the  period  of  enlistment  expired 
just  on  the  eve  of  that  engagement.  In  view  of  the  approarh- 
ing  conflict,  the  Colonel  was  extremely  anxious  to  retain  the 
men  in  the  service ;  and  to  induce  them  to  remain,  he  went 
to  General  McDowell's  headquarters,  and  prevailed  upon  him 
to  write  a  letter  requesting  them  to  waive  their  claim  to  a  dis- 
charge till  after  the  battle.  But  when  the  question  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  companies,  they  declined  to  accede  to  the  request. 
Under  the  circumstances,  their  Colonel  was  powerless  either 
to  persuade  or  compel ;  and  as  the  regiment  marched  to  the 
rear  to  be  mustered  out,  he  advanced  to  the  front  to  tender 
his  own  services  to  McDowell,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  with 
General  Franklin,  on  whose  staff  he  served  with  conspicuous 
gallantry  throughout  that  first  bloody  day,  which  covered  so 
many  loyal  faces  with  shame  and  filled  so  many  loyal  hearts 
with  mourning. 

Colonel  Hartranft  was  commissioned  for  the  three-years' 
service,  July  27th,  1861,  and,  in  September  following,  or- 
ganized at  Camp  Curtin,  Harrisburg,  the  51st  Regiment  of 
Pennsylvania  Volunteer  Infantry.  Some  of  the  officers,  and 
many  privates  of  his  three-months  regiment,  joined  the  new 
organization ;  and  subsequently  proved,  by  heroic  devotion  to 
the  flag,  that  their  refusal  to  wait  for  the  battle  of  Bull  Run 
was  not  owing  to  any  want  of  loyalty,  or  a  craven  fear  of 
facing  the  enemy.  The  command  was  mustered  by  companies 
into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  the  regimental  stand  of 
colors  being  received  on  the  5th  of  November,  from  the  hand 
of  Governor  Curtain,  who  said :  "  I  am  looking  hundreds  in 
the  face,  now  in  perfect  health,  who  will  never  return  to  their 
homes,  families,  and  friends;  but  their  memories  will  be  en- 
shrined in  the  hearts  of  the  generations  of  future  ages."  It 
needed  not  the  inspired  foresight  of  a  prophet  to  enable  him 


496    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

to  utter  these  solemn  words.  The  regiment  left  Camp  Curtin 
on  the  18th  for  Annapolis,  Maryland.  At  that  time  Major- 
General  Burnside  was  organizing  an  expedition  there  for  ser- 
vice on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina.  The  51st  was  incor- 
porated with  his  corps,  and  assigned  to  Reno's  brigade  of 
Foster's  division. 

On  the  6th  of  January,  1862,  the  fleet  conveying  the  troops 
weighed  anchor  and  moved  down  the  bay  in  three  squadrons. 
The  immediate  point  of  attack  was  Roanoke  Island.  At  early 
dawn  of  February  7th,  a  landing  was  effected,  and  the  troops 
were  immediately  put  in  motion.  The  regiment  participated 
in  Foster's  attack,  which  drove  the  enemy  from  their  works 
in  haste  and  confusion.  Reno,  meanwhile,  had  thrown  him- 
self upon  the  line  of  retreat,  so  that  the  whole  Rebel  force, 
with  its  artillery  and  small  arms,  was  captured. 

On  the  13th  of  March,  Burnside  landed  his  forces  on  the 
bank  of  the  Neuse  River,  about  fifteen  miles  below  Newbern, 
and  marched  against  the  city  without  delay.  In  the  disposi- 
tions for  the  attack,  Foster  occupied  the  right,  Reno  the  left, 
and  Parke  the  centre  of  the  Federal  line.  The  defences  con- 
sisted of  "thirteen  finished  redans,  bristling  with  cannon,  and 
protected  in  front  by  an  almost  impassable  morass  filled  with 
fallen  timber."  Skirmishing  commenced  early  in  the  morn- 
ing. About  noon  the  whole  line  became  engaged;  and  the 
conflict  continued  three  hours  and  a  half  with  varying  results. 
During  this  time  the  51st  Pennsylvania  had  been  held  in  re- 
serve, within  seventy-five  yards  of  the  enemy's  works,  and, 
though  severely  exposed  and  suffering,  had  not  fired  a  musket. 
As  all  soldiers  will  readily  comprehend,  this  was  a  service 
much  more  trying  to  their  firmness  and  spirit  than  the  dangers 
of  a  direct  assault.  At  last,  General  Reno,  growing  impatient 
at  the  delay  of  victory,  and  irritated  at  the  loss  he  was  sus- 
taining, ordered  up  the  51st  for  the  decisive  charge.  After  a 
careful  survey  of  the  approaches  by  Colonel  Hartranft,  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Bell  was  directed  to  lead  the  left  wing  of  the 
regiment  to  the  attack.  Crossing  a  ravine  obstructed  by 
fallen  timber,  and  moving  rapidly  up  the  opposite  bank,  Bell 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  497 

rushed  upon  the  redan,  routed  the  enemy,  and  planted  his 
flag  on  the  ramparts.  General  Reno,  in  his  official  report, 
speaking  of  the  manner  in  which  this  movement  was  con- 
ducted, says:  "All  this  was  gallantly  executed,  and  the  enemy 
fled  precipitately  from  all  their  intrenchments.  Some  fifty 
prisoners  were  captured  in  the  works,  many  severely  wounded. 
Upon  reaching  the  Rebel  intrenchments,  I  was  rejoiced  to  see 
our  flag  waving  along  the  entire  line."  This  ended  the  fight- 
ing, and  at  4  p.  M.  the  Federal  commander  was  in  possession 
of  the  city. 

On  the  16th  of  April,  the  regiment  was  again  engaged  in 
an  action  known  as  the  battle  of  Camden.  Colonel  Hartranft 
was  not  present  on  that  occasion,  having  received  a  furlough 
of  twenty  days  that  he  might  visit  his  sick  family.  After 
burying  two  of  his  children,  he  hurried  back  to  the  scene  of 
duty,  arriving  just  in  time  to  salute  his  men  on  their  return 
from  the  battle.  In  no  other  instance  during  the  war,  while 
it  remained  under  his  personal  command,  was  his  regiment 
engaged  when  he  did  not  participate. 

In  June  following,  the  Colonel  received  a  communication 
from  a  friend  in  the  rear,  requesting  him  to  permit  the  use 
of  his  nam,e  as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Surveyor-General, 
to  which  he  promptly  returned  the  following  reply :  — 

"CAMP  KENO,  June  24th,  1862. 

"  FRIEND  B. — I  thank  you  and  my  friends  in  Blair  County  for  your 
kind  intentions ;  but  I  do  most  positively  decline  to  have  my  name 
brought  before  the  public  as  a  candidate  for  office.  I  desire  to  serve 
ray  country  in  no  other  position,  during  the  continuance  of  the  rebel- 
lion, than  that  in  which  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  serve  since  Presi- 
dent Lincoln's  proclamation  calling  out  75,000  volunteers." 

Major-General  Pope  having  been  appointed  to  command 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  being  threatened  by  a  com- 
bined movement  of  the  forces  of  Lee  and  Jackson,  Burnside 
received  orders,  on  the  12th  of  August,  to  hasten  with  his 
column  to  his  support.  Landing  at  Fredericksburg,  he 
pushed  forward  two  divisions  to  Cedar  Mountain,  where 


498     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

they  formed  a  junction  with.  McDowell's  corps.  But  the 
united  columns  were  not  able  to  resist  the  enemy.  In  the 
retreat  to  the  Rappahannock,  Colonel  Hartranft — temporarily 
commanding  Ferrero's  brigade  —  was  directed  to  cover  the 
rear  of  the  Federal  forces.  The  post  was  critical  and  respon- 
sible in  the  extreme;  and  while  a  gallant  front  was  maintained, 
and  every  precaution  taken,  the  Colonel's  opinion  was  that, 
had  not  Longstreet  been  inevitably  detained  two  hours,  his 
brigade  must  have  been  cut  off  and  captured.  After  con- 
siderable manoeuvring,  Pope  formed  in  line  to  receive  the 
enemy  on  the  same  ground  where  McDowell  had  fought  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run.  Kearney  held  the  right  and  Reno  the 
left,  in  that  part  of  the  field  where  Colonel  Hartranft  was 
immediately  engaged.  The  line  of  retreat  was  by  the  Cen- 
treville  road,  and  the  Confederates,  flushed  with  recent  suc- 
cesses, were  advancing  to  deal  a  more  decisive  blow;  the 
Federal  troops  being  impeded  by  their  trains  and  discouraged 
by  previous  reverses.  To  protect  the  trains,  and  keep  the 
road  clear,  Graham's  Battery  had  been  placed  in  good  position ; 
and  that  he  should  be  able  to  hold  the  ground  was  a  matter 
of  the  last  importance.  Ferrero,  having  returned,  and  re- 
sumed command  of  the  brigade  as  ranking  Colonel,  perceived 
the  danger  and  the  necessity  of  support,  and  with  the  51st 
New  York,  the  21st  Massachusetts,  and  the  51st  Pennsylvania, 
made  a  stand  that  could  not  be  shaken  by  the  utmost  efforts 
of  the  enemy.  As  soon  as  the  attempt  to  drive  him  from  his 
position  had  failed,  Colonel  Ferrero  moved  off  with  the  21st 
Massachusetts,  supposing  the  other  two  regiments  would 
follow;  but  Colonel  Hartranft,  having  received  orders  to 
that  effect  from  General  Reno,  remained  till  near  midnight 
with  his  own  regiment,  and  the  51st  New  York,  under  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Potter,  for  the  purpose  of  checking  any  further 
effort  to  disturb  the  rear  of  the  Federal  column,  when  he 
received  a  second  order  from  Reno,  saying  that  Kearney's 
brigade  would  suffice  to  protect  the  retreat,  and  that  he 
should  retire  to  Centreville.  Two  days  subsequent,  General 
Reno's  corps  was  moved  on  a  line  parallel  with  the  road  from 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  499 

Centreville  to  Fairfax  Court-House,  and  took  a  new  position. 
The  cavalry  reconnoitred  in  front,  and  Colonel  Hartranft, 
with  his  regiment  and  two  batteries,  held  the  rear  during  the 
movement.  When  the  advance  of  the  line  became  engaged, 
Hartranft  brought  forward  his  guns  —  placing  his  infantry  in 
support  —  and  opened  fire  on  the  enemy.  While  thus  en- 
gaged, an  aid  arrived  from  Reno  with  an  order  directing  him 
to  abandon  the  ground  he  had  assumed,  and  immediately 
take  position  on  the  right  of  the  line.  But  convinced  that 
he  was  right,  he  declined  to  obey;  and  mounting,  rode  to 
headquarters  for  the  purpose  of  explanation.  When  he  had 
Btated  the  facts  of  the  situation,  the  General  thanked  him  for 
having  taken  the  responsibility  of  disobedience,  declaring 
that  by  every  consideration  the  position  should  be  maintained, 
and  promising  to  send  to  his  support  the  first  available  rein- 
forcements. • 

This  particular  series  of  engagements,  in  which  Colonel 
Hartranft's  command  took  a  part  so  active  and  responsible, 
will  be  known  in  the  history  of  the  war  as  the  battle  of 
Chantilly.  The  days  on  which  it  was  fought  were,  perhaps, 
the  darkest  and  most  disastrous  that  ever  closed  upon  the 
republic.  For  the  moment  it  seemed  as  though  Kearney 
and  Stevens  had  died  in  vain ;  as  if  it  were  without  avail 
that  Hartranft  and  his  gallant  companions  had  staked  their 
lives  to  cover  the  retreating  columns,  and  save  the  capital  of 
the  nation.  But  it  was  not  in  vain.  The  soldiers  who  sus- 
tained the  defeat  had  displayed  qualities,  in  their  heroic 
attempts  to  avert  it,  which  gave  promise  of  the  triumphs 
that  crowned  their  arms  within  the  two  succeeding  years.  It 
has  been  given  to  the  highest  type  of  men  to  be  greater  in 
defeat  than  in  victory. 

After  his  defeat  on  this  unfortunate  field,  Pope  was  relieved 
of  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  McClellan 
restored.  Still  attached  to  Burnside's  corps,  Colonel  Hart- 
ranft participated  in  the  battle  of  South  Mountain,  the  14th  of 
September.  On  the  broad  summit  of  the  mountain,  Ferrero's 
brigade  had  a  very  sharp  encounter  with  the  foe.  The  17tb 


500    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

Michigan,  a  raw  but  gallant  regiment,  first  engaged,  and 
suffered  severely.  General  Reno,  supposing  it  had  estab- 
lished a  line  on  the  edge  of  a  wood,  as  he  had  directed, 
ordered  Colonel  Hartranft  forward  to  its  support.  In  moving 
to  execute  the  order,  the  regiment,  unsuspicious  of  danger, 
vras  suddenly  and  fiercely  opened  upon  from  the  edge  of  the 
wood.  The  17th  Michigan  had  at  first  driven  the  enemy, 
but  failing  to  make  good  the  advantage  gained,  their  oppo- 
nents returned,  and,  waiting  till  the  51st  was  almost  upon 
the  points  of  their  bayonets,  opened  a  murderous  fire.  As 
quickly  as  possible  the  Colonel  withdrew  his  command,  and 
reforming  under  the  protection  of  a  fence,  returned  the  fire 
until  his  ammunition  was  spent,  when  he  was  replaced  by 
Colonel  Potter  with  the  51st  New  York.  The  fire  was  thus 
maintained ;  and  the  cartridge-boxes  having  been  refilled,  the 
51st  Pennsylvania  returned;  and  the  enemy,  pelted  by  Hart- 
ranft and  Potter  combined,  finally  retreated  under  cover  of 
the  darkness.  It  is  well  known  that  the  gallant  General 
Reno  fell  in  this  action,  and  it  was  the  sad  privilege  of 
Colonel  Hartranft  to  receive  the  last  words  of  command  that 
were  issued  from  his  lips. 

The  battle  of  Antietam,  on  the  16th  and  17th,  was  but  a 
continuation  of  that  of  South  Mountain.  Hooker's  attack  on 
the  enemy's  left  during  the  afternoon  of  the  16th,  and  that 
of  Mansfield  and  Sumner  on  the  morning  of  the  17th,  had 
proved  complete  successes.  But  in  the  meantime  the  troops 
of  the  Federal  left  and  centre  had  remained  passive  spectators 
of  the  scene.  About  nine  o'clock,  however,  the  Ninth  Corps 
was  ordered  to  advance  and  carry  the  stone  bridge  on  the 
extreme  right  of  the  Confederate  line.  Against  this  position, 
strong  by  nature  and  fortified  to  the  utmost  by  the  skill  of 
the  engineer,  the  llth  Connecticut  and  Cook's  brigade,  sup- 
ported by  Sturgis's  division,  were  advanced.  As  this  column 
approached  along  the  valley,  it  was  so  hotly  assailed  by  the 
enemy  from  the  opposite  heights,  that  it  was  obliged  to  halt 
and  reply.  The  troops  of  Sturgis  gained  the  head  of  the 
bridge.  The  2d  Maryland  and  the  6th  New  Hampshire 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  501 

charged  at  a  run  with  fixed  bayonets,  but  were  compelled  to 
fall  back  by  the  accurate  and  concentrated  fire  to  which  they 
were  exposed.  These  regiments  behaved  with  admirable 
spirit;  but  failing  of  success  were,  after  repeated  efforts, 
withdrawn.  Burnside,  though  chagrined  by  the  failure,  would 
not  yet  relinquish  the  attempt,  and  so  resolved  to  try  again 
with  troops  that  he  had  seen  tested  at  Roanoke,  Newbern, 
and  Chantilly. 

General  Ferrero  came  dashing  up  to  Colonel  Hartranft,  and 
said:  "General  Burnside  orders  the  51st  Pennsylvania,  Colonel 
Hartranft,  to  storm  the  bridge."  The  manner  of  communicating 
the  order  was  a  marked  compliment.  The  usual  mode  would 
have  conveyed  it  to  General  Ferrero.  commanding  the  brigade, 
and  from  him  to  the  Colonel  of  the  51st  Pennsylvania.  In 
the  change  of  mode  there  was  a  special  significance.  Avoiding 
the  road  by  which  the  first  assailants  had  suffered  so  severely 
and  been  repulsed,  the  Colonel  led  his  command  along  the  rear 
of  the  heights  overlooking  the  river  .till  he  gained  a  point 
directly  opposite  the  bridge,  when  he  faced  about  and  moved 
down  the  slope  directly  against  it.  The  moment  the  troops 
reached  the  open  ground  of  the  valley,  the  Rebel  infantry  on 
the  heights  poured  upon  them  a  destructive  fire,  and  in  cross- 
ing a  fence  that  skirted  the  road,  they  suffered  still  more 
severely.  At  this  point  many  men  were  killed,  and  two 
officers — Captains  Hart  and  Bolton —  were  dangerously 
wounded.  But,  heedless  of  the  death-dealing  discharges,  the 
brave  fellows  made  directly  for  the  bridge.  Hartranft,  lead- 
ing the  attack,  had  paused  an  instant  to  close  up  the  ranks, 
when  he  was  joined  by  his  gallant  friend,  Colonel  Potter,  at 
the  head  of  the  51st  New  York.  The  two  commanders  and 
their  regiments  had  on  previous  occasions  proved  each  other's 
mettle,  and  now  uniting,  with  a  shout  that  was  distinct  amid 
the  thunders  of  the  battle,  they  rushed  forward,  and  the 
bridge  was  won.  Burnside's  entire  corps  now  advanced, 
crossed  the  bridge,  and  occupied  the  heights  beyond.  But 
all  this  gallant  devotion  was  to  no  purpose.  The  enemy  being 
relieved  by  the  slackening  of  the  fire  on  the  left,  and  strength 


502    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

ened  by  the  arrival  of  a  corps  of  fresh  roops  from  Harper's 
Ferry,  the  Federal  advance  was  compelled  to  recross  the 
bridge,  and  forfeit  the  temporary  advantage  for  which  they 
had  paid  so  dearly.  The  troops,  however,  did  not  retire  till 
after  a  desperate  contest.  The  51st  having  exhausted  its 
ammunition,  Colonel  Hartranft  maintained  his  ground  with 
fixed  bayonets  until  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  obliged  the 
enemy  to  withdraw.  The  loss  of  the  regiment,  killed  and 
wounded,  was  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  nearly  one-fourth 
of  its  available  strength  at  the  opening  of  the  conflict. 
Among  the  slain  were  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bell  and  Lieu- 
tenants Beaver  and  Hunsicker,  brave  soldiers  and  estimable 
citizens.  In  view  of  Colonel  Hartranft's  services  in  this 
battle,  as  well  as  during  the  campaigns  in  !N"orth  Carolina 
and  Virginia,  General  Burnside  entered  his  name  on  his  list 
for  promotion,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  following  letter  addressed 
to  General  McClellan,  September  25th,  1862 : 

"  GENERAL  :  —  I  beg  to  recommend  for  promotion  as  Brigadier- 
Generals,  Colonel  William  S.  Clark,  21st  Massachusetts  Volunteers ; 
Colonel  J.  F.  Hartranft,  51st  Pennsylvania  Volunteers ;  and  Colonel 
Edward  Harland,  8th  Connecticut  Volunteers. 

"  These  officers  have  served  with  me  with  faithfulness  and  distinc- 
tion in  North  Carolina,  where  they  took  a  prominent  part  in  three 
battles.  Colonels  Clark  and  Hartranft  then  served  in  General  Pope's 
Virginia  campaign  under  the  immediate  direction  of  General  Reno, 
by  whom  they  were  highly  praised,  and  lately  they  and  Colonel  Har- 
land have  served  with  high  credit  to  themselves  in  this  campaign  in 
Maryland. 

"  For  their  arduous  and  faithful  service,  in  which  their  bravery  and 
skill  as  officers  has  highly  distinguished  them,  I  would  most  strongly 
recommeTid  them  to  your  favorable  notice  for  a  well-deserved  promotion." 

"Upon  the  publication  of  General  Burnside's  letter,  General 
Heintzlernan  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  congratu- 
late Colonel  Hartranft  as  follows; 

"  COLONEL  :  —  I  have  read  General  Burnside's  letter  recommend- 
ing Colonel  Clark  and  yourself  for  Brigadier-Generals. 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  503 

"  I  well  recollect  your  gallant  services  on  Gen  \i  il  Franklin's  staff 
at  the  first  Bull  Run  battle,  and  Lave  followed  with  interest  your 
career  in  North  Carolina.  It  will  afford  me  much  pleasure  to  hear 
that  your  services  have  been  rewarded  in  this  manner." 

The  promotion,  however,  though  so  richly  merited,  was 
long  delayed.  The  Government  did  not  intend  to  be  unjust 
to  any  of  its  defenders.  But  if  the  claimants  were  equal  in 
merit,  they  certainly  were  not  in  modesty.  Colonel  Hart- 
ranft  thought  only  of  his  duty  in  the  Held,  and  no  solicitations 
were  made  at  Washington  in  his  behalf. 

The  failure  to  pursue  Lee,  and  the  delays  upon  various 
pretences  which  succeeded  the  battle  of  Antietam,  produced 
general  discontent  throughout  the  country,  and  with  the  hope 
of  a  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  hostilities,  McClellan  was 
superseded  by  the  appointment  of  Burnside  to  the  command 
of  the  army.  By  this  change  General  Wilcox  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  Kinth  Corps.  The  enemy  had  retired  from 
the  field  of  Antietam  to  their  intrenched  heights  in  the  rear 
of  Fredericksburg.  About  the  middle  of-  December  the 
Federal  army  crossed  the  Rappahannock,  and  made  a  general 
assault  upon  the  Confederate  lines.  Owing  to  their  great 
strength,  as  well  as  the  gallantry  of  the  defence,  and  prob- 
ably the  want  of  hearty  co-operation  with  the  Federal  com- 
mander on  the  part  of  some  of  his  principal  subordinates, 
the  attack  proved  a  decided  failure,  and  the  whole  army,  re- 
crossing  the  river,  at  once  retired  into  winter-quarters.  For 
two  nights  and  a  day  Colonel  Hartranft,  commanding  four 
regiments,  held  an  advanced  position  in  front  of  the  Rebel 
centre,  where  he  threw  up  intrenchrnents,  and  his  troops  were 
among  the  last  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  immediate  presence 
of  the  enemy.  The  loss  of  his  own  regiment  was  twelve  killed 
and  seventy-four  wounded. 

General  Burnside,  being  relieved  from  the  command  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac  at  his  own  request,  was  assigned 
to  duty  in  the  Department  of  the  Ohio.  In  the  beginning 
of  April,  1863,  Colonel  Hartranft's  regiment,  with  other 


504    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

troops  and  two  divisions  of  the  Ninth  Corps,  were  ordered 
to  Kentucky.  During  the  spring,  the  51st  was  posted  at 
various  points  in  the  interior  of  the  State,  to  protect  the 
people  against  raids  by  the  guerillas  of  "Wheeler.  Morgan, 
and  Pegram. 

In  June,  the  corps  in  Kentucky,  temporarily  commanded 
by  General  Parke,  was  ordered  to  the  support  of  Grant  before 
Vicksburg.  In  all  the  operations  following  this  change, 
Colonel  Hartranft  commanded  a  brigade,  though  he  had  not 
received  promotion.  In  the  climate  of  Mississippi  his  health 
soon  began  to  suffer.  When  his  brigade  was  ordered  to 
accompany  Sherman  in  his  advance  against  Jackson,  he  was 
so  prostrated  as  to  be  unable  to  keep  the  saddle,  and  was 
obliged  to  direct  the  movements  of  his  troops  from  an  am- 
bulance. 

After  the  fall  of  Vicksburg  and  the  occupation  of  Jackson, 
the  Ninth  Corps  was  returned  to  Burnside's  command  in 
Kentucky.  The  51st  took  post  at  Camp  Nelson  in  order  to 
rest  and  refit;  was  thence  moved  to  Crab  Orchard;  and  after 
recruiting  there,  marched  across  the  mountains,  by  way  of 
Cumberland  Gap,  to  Knoxville.  Since  the  return  from  Mis- 
sissippi, Colonel  Hartranft  had  been  disabled  by  the  effects 
of  disease,  but  soon  after  the  arrival  of  his  regiment  in  the 
Valley,  he  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  rejoin  it,  and  in 
obedience  to  orders  immediately  assumed  command  of  the 
Second  Division  of  the  Ninth  Corps.  Stirring  times  were  at 
hand.  Longstreet  was  moving,  with  a  greatly  superior  force, 
to  cut  off  and  capture  Burnside's  entire  command.  As  sev- 
eral railroads  there  converged,  Campbell's  Station  was  his 
objective  point  in  this  movement,  and  he  had  the  advantage 
of  the  shortest  and  most  direct  road.  But  his  design  was 
discovered  in  time  to  frustrate  it.  Colonel  Hartranft  inarched 
all  night,  dragging  Benjamin's  Battery  over  roads  that  were 
almost  impassable,  and  reached  the  Station  in  advance  of 
the  Rebel  commander,  the  head  of  whose  column  soon  after 
appeared  and  opened  a  heavy  fire.  But  the  Colonel  tena- 
ciously clung  to  his  position  till  the  Federal  army  with  all 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  505 

its  trains  had  passed,  and  then,  falling  back,  took  a  new 
position.  The  fight  had  been  obstinately  maintained,  not  for 
victory,  but  to  insure  retreat  for  the  main  body  of  the  army. 
In  the  execution  of  this  purpose  the  gallant  subordinate  made 
successive  stands  till,  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  his  chief 
escaped  safely  into  Knoxville.  In  the  subsequent  defence  of 
that  city,-  Hartranft's  command  held  the  road  leading  into  it 
from  Cumberland  Gap,  and  by  throwing  a  dam  across  a  mill- 
stream,  he  flooded  the  surrounding  country  for  more  than  a 
mile,  and  thus  rendered  his  position  perfectly  secure.  Long- 
street  was  delayed  in  his  movements,  and  by  the  time  he 
arrived,  the  Federal  defences  had  been  rendered  impregnable. 
But  by  cutting  oft*  supplies  he  soon  reduced  the  besieged  to 
very  short  rations,  when  Sherman,  dispatched  by  Grant  with 
a  heavy  force,  obliged  him  to  raise  the  siege,  and  retire  with 
a  haste  that  barely  saved  him  from  destruction. 

Their  term  of  service  having  expired,  the  51st  returned 
home,  and  re-enlisting,  the  troops  were  granted  at  Harrisburg 
a  veteran  furlough.  As  was  their  due,  they  were  everywhere 
hailed  with  the  warmest  manifestations  of  welcome.  Upon 
arriving  at  Norristown,  Colonel  Hartranft  and  staff,  with  the 
five  companies  recruited  in  Montgomery  County,  were  re- 
ceived with  the  most  cordial  and  flattering  demonstrations. 
The  orator  of  the  day,  among  other  remarks  expressive  of 
the  public  gratitude  and  appreciation,  said :  "  It  is  to  you, 
Colonel,  that  the  regiment  owes  the  character  it  bears.  Your  dis- 
cipline in  the  camp,  your  foresight  on  the  march,  your  coolness, 
bravery,  and  judgment  on  the  battle-field,  have  won  the  confidence 
and  love  of  your  men,  and  made  them  heroes  in  the  fight.  They 
knew  that  you  never  ordered  where  you  did  not  lead."  A  few  days 
sufficed  to  recruit  the  regiment  to  its  maximum,  and  upon 
the  expiration  of  the  furlough,  it  was  rendezvoused  at  An- 
napolis, where  the  old  Ninth  Corps  was  reassembling. 

A  reinforcement  of  new  recruits  increased  the  strength  of 
the  Corps  to  twenty  thousand  men.  In  the  absence  of  General 
Burnside,  the  command  of  the  depot  was  intrusted  to  Colonel 
Hartranft.  All  the  new  regiments  were  ordered  to  report 


506    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

directly  to  him,  and  to  his  supervision  was  committed  the 
whole  work  of  equipment  and  reorganization. 

The  hero  of  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  and  Chatta- 
nooga, having  been  appointed  Lieutenant-General  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief,  was  transferred  from  the  West  to  the  East, 
and  immediately  upon  his  arrival  assumed  in  person  the  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Henceforward  there 
was  to  be  no  more  debating,  and  war  was  to  be  divorced  from 
politics. 

The  Ninth  Corps  was  reviewed  by  President  Lincoln  as  it 
passed  through  Washington  to  join  the  columns  of  Grant 
on  the  Rapidan.  In  the  grand  movements  that  were  imme- 
diately inaugurated,  the  Corps  took  position  between  those 
of  Hancock  and  Warren.  Only  about  one-fourth  of  it  was 
composed  of  veteran  troops.  Grant  was  now  to  meet  Lee 
on  the  same  ground  where  Hooker  had  been  defeated. 
Battle  was  imminent,  and  the  necessary  dispositions  were 
being  rapidly  made.  The  ground  was  aptly  designated  a 
wilderness,  and  its  peculiar  character  was  to  give  name  to  a 
battle  that  will  be  ever  memorable  in  the  country's  history. 
The  bloody  issue  was  joined  on  the  6th  of  May.  Owing  to 
the  dense  undergrowth,  Colonel  Hartranft  had  some  difficulty 
in  getting  his  brigade  into  position.  His  instructions  were 
to  support  Potter's  division,  which  had  been  ordered  to  attack 
a  part  of  the  Rebel  line  that  was  posted  in  a  woods;  but  the 
enemy  were  discovered  to  be  on  Hartranft's  instead  of  Potter's 
front,  and  so  the  assault  devolved  upon  his  brigade,  Potter 
supporting  him  on  the  flank  of  his  movement.  The  fighting 
was  necessarily  uncertain  amid  the  entanglement  of  the  forest, 
and  without  decisive  effect  upon  either  side.  In  the  after- 
noon General  Wilcox,  who  commanded  the  division  to  which 
Colonel  Hartranft's  brigade  was  attached,  arrived  and  as- 
sumed command,  when  the  brigade  was  ordered  to  renew 
the  assault.  But  so  difficult  was  the  ground,  and  so  obstinate 
the  resistance  of  the  enerm7,  that  Hartranft  rode  up  to  Wil- 
cox, and  said:  "  General,  this  admnce  is  against  my  judgment." 
Quickly  assigning  the  reasons  for  his  opinion,  they  were  at 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  507 

once  communicated  to  General  Bumside,  who  expressed  his 
approval,  and  directed  the  order  for  the  attack  to  be  counter- 
manded. Subsequent  information  proved  that  the  enemy 
had  been  heavily  reinforced,  and  disclosed  the  fact  that 
Hartranft  had  been  fighting  Longstreet  aH  day,  to  whose 
repulse  he  had  recently  contributed  before  the  defences  of 
Knoxville. 

Colonel  Ilartranft  kept  his  saddle  throughout  these  opera- 
tions; but  ordered  the  officers  of  his  staff  to  dismount,  and 
assist  in  directing  the  movements  of  the  several  regiments, 
as  they  were  composed  mostly  of  raw  troops,  and  from  the 
concealment  of  the  enemy  were  peculiarly  liable  to  be  thrown 
into  confusion.  When  the  second  advance  was  ordered,  he 
rode  along  the  entire  front  of  his  line,  pausing  to  give  special 
directions  and  encouragement  to  each  regiment,  though  he 
was  every  moment  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  skir- 
mishers. The  men  being  strangers  to  him,  he  felt  it  to  be 
particularly  important  that  his  personal  example  should  be 
such  as  would  inspire  them  wilh  firmness  in  themselves  and 
confidence  in  their  leader;  and  he  was  known  to  say  after- 
ward that,  as  he  rode  along  the  line  the  morning  following 
the  battle,  he  heard  from  the  troops  words  which  assured  him 
that  he  could  henceforth  send  them  anywhere,  whether  he 
went  himself  or  not. 

The  great  battle  of  Spottsylvania  was  fought  on  the  12th 
of  May.  The  Ninth  Corps  on  the  morning  of  that  day  moved 
in  columns  of  brigades,  and  crossed  Nye  River,  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  to  the  left  of  the  position  from  which  General 
Grant  was  directing  the  movements  of  the  whole  army. 

Hancock's  famous  charge  on  the  centre  of  the  Rebel  line 
was  like  a  tornado.  For  the  time  being  everything  went 
down  before  it.  Many  prisoners  and  guns  were  taken.  But 
his  columns  were  dreadfully  shattered  by  the  assault;  and  the 
gallant  enemy  partially  recovering  from  the  dreadful  shock, 
and  bringing  up  their  reserves,  had  returned,  and  were  be- 
ginning to  drive  back  the  victorious  assailants.  But  fortu 
nately,  at  this  juncture,  the  head  of  the  advance  column  of 


508     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

the  Ninth  Corps  struck  the  flank  of  the  enemy,  and  arrested 
their  progress.  Meanwhile  Colonel  Hartrarift's  line  was 
severely  exposed  to  an  enfilading  fire.  To  escape  this  he 
changed  front,  pushed  out  skirmishers,  and  was  about  to 
advance  in  force,' when  he  received  an  order  from  Burnside 
to  report  with  his  entire  brigade  to  General  Hancock.  But 
while  moving  rapidly  to  execute  the  order,  a  countermand 
was  received,  directing  him  to  return  to  the  position  he  had 
just  left,  and  attack  with  all  his  force.  Before  proceeding  to 
execute  the  order,  he  desired  to  send  out  skirmishers  for  the 
purpose  of  feeling  the  enemy's  position.  But  General  Burn- 
side,  having  been  recently  charged  with  being  a  little  dilatory 
in  his  movements,  would  not  permit  the  delay.  The  result 
was  the  two  columns  met  in  a  woods  obstructed  with  dense 
undergrowth ;  inevitable  confusion  ensued,  a  few  prisoners 
were  taken  by  both  parties;  but  nothing  decisive  was  accom- 
plished on  either  side.  Colonel  Hartranft's  opinion  was,  that 
had  a  skirmish-line  been  first  advanced  into  the  woods,  the 
position  and  strength  of  the  enemy  would  have  been  ascer- 
tained, and  they  could  have  been  shelled  out  with  little  diffi- 
culty. From  this  day  was  dated  his  commission  as  Brigadier- 
General.  His  own  judgment  upon  this  coincidence  was,  that 
service  and  honors  do  not  always  correspond.  The  results 
of  his  fighting  on  the  day  of  his  promotion  had  been  less 
satisfactory  to  himself  than  in  any  other  instance  during  the 
war.  He  thought  he  had  been  by  far  more  deserving  after 
Antietam  and  Campbell's  Station  than  after  Spottsylvania. 
To  cover  the  whole  case  was  probably  the  intent  of  fhe  Gov- 
ernment, and  whatever  may  have  been  the  motives  for  post- 
poning the  recognition,  no  one  will  doubt  its  having  been 
richly  merited  before  it  came. 

In  the  prosecution  of  the  campaign  portions  of  the  Federal 
troops  crossed  the  North  Anna  River,  but  after  considerable 
fighting  wrere  withdrawn,  and  the  entire  available  strength 
of  the  army  wTas  immediately  thereafter  concentrated  at  Cold 
Harbor,  where,  on  the  first  three  days  of  June,  was  fought 
one  of  the  bloodiest  battles  of  the  war.  On  the  third  day 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  509 

Gen.  Hartranft's  brigade  was  posted  near  Bethesda  Church. 
At  six  of  the  morning,  he  advanced  and  captured  a  line  of 
works.  The  ultimate  object  of  this  movement  was  an  attack 
upon  the  enemy's  main  line;  but  his  judgment  being  that 
the  attempt  should  not  be  made  without  the  support  of  artil- 
lery, and  the  guns  failing  to  arrive  till  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  the  order  of  attack  was  countermanded  by  General 
Burnside.  By  declining  the  attempt,  in  the  absence  of 
artillery,  an  almost  inevitable  repulse  was  avoided,  and  many 
brave  men  were  saved  for  a  more  practicable  service  at  a 
future  day. 

On  the  16th  of  June  the  army  crossed  the  James.  In 
almost  all  the  operations  attending  upon  that  advance,  Gen. 
Hartranft's  brigade  was  actively  engaged.  None  of  these 
were  either  trifling,  unimportant,  or  free  from  peril.  During 
the  two  days  immediately  succeeding  the  passage  of  the  river, 
he  was  wounded  in  the  breast  by  a  bullet,  and  the  losses  of 
his  brigade,  by  death  and  wounds,  amounted  to  sixty-five 
officers  in  a  corps  of  a  hundred  and  five,  and  seven  hundred 
and  thirty  privates  in  a  force  of  eighteen  hundred.  While 
the  mine  —  so  much  talked  of  at  the  time  —  was  in  course  of 
preparation,  Hartranft's  brigade  protected  the  engineers  and 
workmen.  In  the  six  weeks  he  was  thus  occupied,  his  losses, 
in  killed  and  wounded,  were  six  per  day.  Several  days  be- 
fore the  mine  was  completed,  General  Wilcox's  division 
having  been  selected  to  make  the  attack,  he  notified  General 
Hartranft  of  the  fact,  and  informed  him  that  his  brigade 
would  be  detailed  to  lead  the  division.  The  night  prior  to 
the  explosion  the  General  was  summoned  to  division  head- 
quarters, where  the  plan  of  attack  was  submitted  to  his  ex- 
amination. The  failure  that  resulted  has  passed  into  history. 
Upon  the  explosion  of  the  mine,  the  troops,  both  white  and 
colored,  moved  to  the  assault  with  great  gallantry;  but  their 
number  being  large  and  the  crater  narrow,  they  were  pressed 
together  in  a  solid  mass,  and  presenting  thus  a  conspicuous 
target,  the  enemy  concentrated  upon  them  their  whole  line 
of  artillery  and  infantry  fire.  Under  the  circumstances  the 


510     GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

troops  could  neither  advance  with  success,  nor  retire  with 
safety.  Differently  planned,  the  attempt,  which  proved  so 
sad  a  disaster,  might  have  resulted  in  a  glorious  victory. 
General  Hartranft's  opinion  was  that  the  troops  should  have 
been  advanced  in  three  columns — one  to  pass  directly  through 
the  crater,  and  the  other  two  to  the  right  and  left  of  it.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  explosion  produced  general  consterna- 
tion in  the  Rebel  lines.  The  troops  actually  fled  from  the  fort 
on  the  left  of  the  crater,  so  that  the  column  advancing  against 
it  might  have  entered  without  opposition.  Besides,  general 
attention  was  so  fully  concentrated  upon  the  crater,  that  the 
fort  on  the  right  might  certainly  have  been  carried.  These 
two  forts  secured,  the  central  column  could  not  have  been 
driven  out  of  the  crater.  In  addition  to  these  circumstances, 
the  assaulting  forces  would  have  had  room  to  form  and 
advance  in  order.  The  plan  adopted  was  sent  down  from 
headquarters;  and  as  it  was  a  matter  that  related  directly  to 
military  science,  a  citizen-general  could  not  feel  himself  at 
liberty  to  openly  criticise  its  pretensions.  General  Hartranft 
had  some  narrow  escapes  amid  the  dangers  of  this  day.  One 
of  his  orderlies,  while  sitting  between  his  knees,  was  mor- 
tally wounded,  and  another  was  instantly  killed  while  stand- 
ing at  his  side. 

On  the  18th  of  August,  General  "Warren's  corps,  after  a 
sharp  engagement,  succeeded  in  capturing  the  "Weldon  Rail- 
road. The  following  day  General  Hartranft's  brigade  was 
placed  in  reserve,  as  support  to  Warren  in  case  of  an  attempt 
to  recapture  the  prize.  About  five  p.  M.  an  aid  from  division 
headquarters  brought  him  an  order  to  report  to  General 
Ayres.  He  had  just  left  Ayres,  and  knew  that  no  effort  was 
being  made  to  disturb  the  lines  in  his  vicinity;  but  hearing 
discharges  of  musketry  on  the  right  and  front  of  his  own 
position,  he  replied,  "  1  will  move  in  the  direction  of  the fire  ;"  and 
galloping  back  found  his  command  under  arms.  The  facts 
of  the  situation  were  soon  disclosed.  Mahone's  troops  had 
broken  through  the  line  of  Crawford's  division,  and  were 
rapidly  advancing.  Prompt  dispositions  were  made  to  receive 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  511 

them,  and  after  a  spirited  contest  the  enemy  gave  way  and 
retired.  The  casualties,  however,  were  unusual  for  so  brief 
an  action.  General  Hartranft's  horse  was  killed  under  him. 
A  staff  officer  at  his  side  lost  his  horse,  and  was  severely 
wounded.  The  Colonel  of  the  51st  was  shot  through  both 
legs,  and  permanently  disqualified  for  duty.  On  some  parts 
of  the  line  the  forces  were  engaged  almost  hand  to  hand. 
At  five  o'clock  next  morning,  August  21st,  Hartranft,  in  obe- 
dience to  orders,  posted  his  brigade  directly  across  the  rail- 
road, facing  the  enemy,  and  threw  up  breastworks.  About 
nine  A.  M.  the  enemy  advanced,  driving  in  his  pickets;  but 
on  attempting  his  main  line  were  terribly  repulsed  by  the 
artillery,  which  Warren  had  so  posted  as  to  command  the 
approaches,  and  behind  which  he  had  concentrated  his  entire 
force  of  infantry.  In  the  fighting  of  the  previous  two  days, 
though  the  Federal  commander  had  taken  and  held  the  rail- 
road, which  was  his  objective  point,  he  had  received  more 
damage  than  he  had  inflicted.  In  Hartranft's  judgment  the 
lesson  was,  never  fight  a  battle  in  the  woods.  In  the  action 
at  Reams'  Station,  a  few  days  subsequent,  his  command  was 
ordered  to  the  support  of  Hancock,  but  arrived  in  time  only 
to  cover  his  retreat.  The  next  engagement  of  any  importance 
was  that  of  Poplar  Spring  Church.  In  this  battle  General 
Hartranft  volunteered  to  command  the  brigade  of  Colonel 
Humphreys  —  that  officer's  term  of  service  having  expired  — 
and  the  offer  being  accepted,  his  own  brigade  was  gallantly 
led  by  Colonel  Harriman  of  the  37th  Wisconsin.  His  com- 
mand held  the  left  of  the  Federal  line.  On  his  right  our 
troops  attacked,  and  were  seriously  repulsed ;  but  owing  to 
an  intervening  woods  and  a  field  of  sorghum,  these  move- 
ments could  not  be  distinguished ;  and  the  enemy,  pursuing, 
occupied  a  part  of  the  same  crest  on  which  he  was  posted, 
when  an  order  was  sent  to  him  from  General  Meade's  chief 
of  staff  to  retire.  But  believing  his  position  to  be  secure, 
he  inquired  whether  the  order  was  peremptory.  The  aid 
said  it  was  not ;  but  our  troops  having  been  repulsed,  it  was 
deemed  prudent  that  he  should  fall  back,  so  as  to  form  a 
closer  connection  with  the  main  line  of  the  army. 


512    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1$38. 

After  this  action,  reports  of  the  campaign  were  ordered  to 
be  sent  in  to  headquarters.  "When  the  army  crossed  the 
Rapidan,  on  the  5th  of  May,  Hartranft's  command  numbered 
five  thousand  on  paper  —  about  three  thousand  being  fit  for 
duty.  During  the  spring  and  summer  the  37th  and  38th 
Wisconsin  and  the  13th  Ohio  Cavalry,  dismounted,  were 
added  to  the  brigade ;  but  so  severe  had  been  its  losses,  that 
less  than  a  thousand  could  be  reported  for  service  in  the  field. 
"With  this  veteran  remnant,  during  the  autumn,  he  partici- 
pated in  the  first  battle  of  Hatcher's  Run. 

About  December  1st,  1864,  General  Hartranft  was  assigned 
to  the  command  of  six  new  Pennsylvania  regiments  —  the 
200th,  205th,  207th,  208th,  209th,  and  211th.  On  applying 
for  permission  to  organize  them  into  a  division,  his  request 
was  granted.  The  division  was  about  five  thousand  strong, 
and  was  designated  as  the  third  of  the  Ninth  Corps.  The 
General's  headquarters  were  at  the  "Avery  House" — not  a 
hotel,  but  a  farmer's  mansion,  in  the  vicinity  of  Petersburg. 
Diligent  attention  was  given  to  the  discipline  of  his  troops, 
and  every  possible  means  was  employed  to  promote  their 
efficiency. 

Nothing  of  special  interest  occurred  till  March  25th  —  a 
day  never  to  be  forgotten  in  this  country,  as  the  date  of  the 
battle  of  Fort  Steadman.  Only  the  briefest  possible  allusion 
can  here  be  indulged.  At  four  o'clock  A.  M.,  General  Hart- 
ranft was  roused  from  sleep  by  an  unusual  movement  of  his 
signal  corps  on  the  roof  of  the  house.  Suspecting  something 
of  importance,  he  jumped  out  of  bed,  and  before  he  could 
dress  himself,  report  was  made  that  the  Rebels  had  broken 
through  our  lines  at  a  point  near  the  Appomattox.  Captain 
Dallien,  staff  officer  of  the  day,  was  dispatched  in  haste  to 
General  McLaughlin's  headquarters  for  information ;  and 
returning,  reported  the  capture  of  Fort  Steadman,  and  the 
rapid  advance  of  the  enemy  towards  the  river.  Hartranft  at 
once  began  to  make  dispositions  for  checking  this  dangerous 
movement.  The  208th  was  sent  to  McLaughlin's  support. 
Riding  at  full  speed  to  Colonel  Diven's  headquarters,  he 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  513 

ordered  him  to  take  charge  of  this  regiment,  and  make  the 
best  stand  he  could  against  any  further  attempts  upon  the 
left  of  our  line.  Pushing  on  to  the  camp  of  the  209th,  nearly 
opposite  the  fort,  he  learned  that  the  regiment  had  been  with- 
drawn by  order  of  General  Wilcox,  and  upon  arriving  at  his 
headquarters  found  that  General,  mounted,  with  his  staff,  his 
tents  struck,  and  everything  in  readiness  for  a  rearward 
move.  Owing  to  the  capture  of  his  Adjutant-General,  he 
did  not  know  what  part  of  his  line,  nor,  in  fact,  whether  any 
part  of  it,  had  been  broken.  "Wilcox's  first  information  of 
the  grave  event  of  the  morning  was  received  from  Hartranft, 
who  requested  him  to  send  a  staff  officer  to  conduct  the  209th  to 
a  position  near  the  fort.  Then  riding  back  to  the  camp  of  the 
200th,  Hartranft  immediately  moved  it  forward  in  line  of 
battle,  and,  without  waiting  to  throw  out  skirmishers,  passed  it 
across  a  ravine,  and  up  the  slope  of  a  hill  in  the  direction  of 
the  fort,  posting  it  on  the  crest  recently  occupied  as  a  camp  by 
the  57th  Massachusetts.  The  fire  of  the  enemy  was  promptly 
directed  upon  this  regiment,  and  soon  became  so  severe  that 
it  yielded  and  fell  back  —  the  standard-bearer  being  killed, 
and  the  Colonel  bringing  off  the  colors.  But  the  point  was 
too  important  to  be  lost.  So,  rallying  the  men,  General 
Hartranft  sent  them  back,  supporting  them  by  the  209th, 
that  had  just  come  up  and  got  into  line.  The  determined 
efforts  of  the  200th  had  the  effect  of  checking  the  enemy  till 
reinforcements  and  the  reserve  artillery  of  the  Ninth  Corps 
could  be  brought  forward  and  placed  in  position.  In  the 
meantime,  the  General  had  remained,  mounted,  with  these 
advanced  troops,  though  the  exposure  was  so  great  that  only 
one  officer  in  four,  bringing  or  conveying  orders,  had  escaped 
being  wounded. 

Satisfied  now  that  the  advance  of  the  enemy  toward  the 
river  had  been  arrested,  he  returned  to  his  rear,  and  found 
that  the  205th  and  207th,  which  he  had  ordered  to  be  for- 
warded when  he  left  his  headquarters  in  the  morning,  had 
passed  down  the  ravine,  and  taken  position  directly  opposite 

33 


514    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

the  fort.     All  the  regiments  of  his  division  were  now  in  line 
near  the  fort  except  the  211th,  which  soon  after  arrived. 

At  this  juncture  an  order  came  to  General  Hartranft  from 
General  Parke,  commanding  the  whole  army  that  day,  to 
retake  Fort  Steadman,  and  preparations  were  instantly  begun 
for  its  execution.  The  signal  was  to  be  a  certain  movement 
of  the  211th,  which  had  replaced  the  200th  on  the  crest  of 
the  dangerous  hill.  But  when  all  was  ready,  a  second  order 
was  received,  postponing  the  attack  till  the  arrival  of  the 
Fifth  Corps.  But  feeling  certain  of  success,  and  fearful  that 
he  would  not  be  able  to  communicate  with  all  his  regiments 
in  time  to  countermand  the  attack,  General  Hartranft  deter- 
mined to  disregard  the  order,  and  advance  immediately  to 
the  assault.  The  result  more  than  justified  his  decision. 
Confident  in  themselves,  their  cause,  and  their  commander, 
the  troops  moved  grandly  to  the  encounter,  and  had  the 
obstacles  been  much  more  formidable  than  they  were,  the 
triumph  could  have  been  no  less  certain.  The  Federal  loss 
was  two  hundred  and  fifty,  killed  and  wounded.  In  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners,  the  enemy's  loss  was  not  less  than 
three  thousand;  but,  what  was  of  still  greater  importance, 
the  success  re-established  the  Federal  line  of  investment. 
This  deserves  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  brilliant  service  of 
General  Hartranft's  military  career ;  and  that  it  was  so  con- 
sidered by  the  Government,  is  evident  from  the  following 
documents : 

"HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC, 
"  March  27th,  1865. 

"  To  MAJOR-GENERAL  J.  G.  PARKE, 

"  Commanding  Ninth  Army  Corps. 

"  GENERAL  :  —  The  Commanding  General  directs  me  to  acknow- 
ledge the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  this  date,  recommending  Brigadier- 
General  Hartranft,  United  States  Volunteers,  for  the  Brevet  of  Major- 
General  of  Volunteers,  for  his  conspicuous  gallantry  in  recapturing 
Fort  Steadman  during  the  action  of  the  25th  inst,  as  well  as  for  his 
industry  and  efficiency  in  organizing  and  disciplining  his  division, 
composed  of  new  regiments. 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  515 

"  In  reply,  I  am  directed  to  inform  you  that,  before  the  receipt  of 
your  letter,  a  recommendation  of  this  same  effect  had  been  made  by 
the  Commanding  General  to  Lieutenant-General  Grant,  to  which  a 
response  was  received,  that  this  nomination  had  been  made  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  and  a  telegraphic  answer  returned,  that  the  ap- 
pointment should  be  made.  Since  then  the  Commanding  General  is 
informed  by  telegraph  that  Brigadier-General  Hartranft  is  brevetted 
Major-General,  and  the  appointment  has  been  forwarded  by  mail. 
Your  recommendation  is,  however,  forwarded  to  complete  the  record. 
"I  am,  General,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"GEORGE  D.  KUGGLES, 
"  Assistant  Adjutant-General." 


"HEADQUARTERS  NINTH  ARMY  CORPS, 
"  March  28th,  1865. 

"BREVET  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT, 

"  Commanding  Third  Division. 

"  GENERAL  :  —  The  Commanding  General  instructs  me  to  transmit 
herewith  copy  of  communication  from  Commanding  General  Army 
of  the  Potomac  of  yesterday's  date,  which  will  explain  itself. 

"He  bids  me  say,  however,  in  connection  therewith,  that  such 
prompt  recognition  of  your  services  on  25th  inst.,  by  the  President, 
the  Lieutenant-General,  and  the  Major-General  commanding  this 
Army,  affords  him  the  greatest  pleasure,  and  he  begs  you  will  accept 
his  hearty  congratulations  on  your  well-deserved  promotion. 
"  I  am,  General,  very  tespectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  P.  M.  LYDIG, 
"  Brevet  Lieut.-Col.  and  A.  A.  General/' 


The  final  advance  of  the  Federal  army  occurred  April  2d, 
1865.  At  daybreak  General  Hartranft's  division  attacked 
the  Confederate  lines  immediately  in  front  of  Petersburg, 
and  carried  them,  after  a  resistance  which  cost  him  in  killed 
and  wounded  a  thousand  men.  Many  prisoners  and  guns 
were  captured;  and  his  skirmishers  were  the  first  Union 


516    GOVERNORS  UNDER  CONSTITUTION  OF  1838. 

troops  that  entered  the  city.  In  the  pursuit  of  Lee,  which 
followed  the  evacuation  of  Richmond,  his  columns  advanced 
as  far  as  Nottaway  Court-House,  but  were  not  again  engaged 
with  the  enemy. 

The  Ninth  Army  Corps  was  the  first  to  return  to  Wash- 
ington. Upon  its  arrival,  General  Hartranft  was  detailed  by 
Secretary  Stanton  as  special  Provost-Marshal,  to  take  charge 
of  the  conspirators  about  to  be  tried  for  the  assassination  of 
President  Lincoln.  In  the  performance  of  this  service  and 
other  duties  arising  therefrom,  he  was  engaged  till  the  middle 
of  July,  when  he  was  ordered  to  the  Department  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  appointed  by  General  Palmer  on  a  military  com- 
mission for  the  trial  of  guerillas  and  other  outlaws.  In 
January,  1866,  he  was  honorably  mustered  out  of  service. 
The  esteem  in  which  the  Government  held  him  as  a  man 
and  a  soldier  will  be  best  understood  from  the  following  com- 
munication : 

"WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
"  Washington,  August  29th,  1866. 

"  SIR  :  — You  are  hereby  informed  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has  appointed  you  '  Colonel  of  the  Thirty-fourth  Regiment  of 
Infantry,'  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  to  rank  as  such  from 
the  twenty-eighth  day  of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-six.  Should  the  Senate  at  their  next  session  advise  and  consent 
thereto,  you  will  be  commissioned  accordingly. 

"Immediately  upon  receipt  hereof,  please  to  communicate  to  this 
Department,  through  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  Army,  your  ac- 
ceptance or  non-acceptance,  and  with  your  letter  of  acceptance  return 
the  oath  hereinwith  enclosed,  properly  filled  up,  subscribed  and 
attested,  and  report  your  age,  birthplace,  and  the  State  of  which  you 
were  a  permanent  resident. 

"EDWIN  M.  STANTON, 

"  Secretary  of  War." 
"COLONEL  JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT, 
"  34th  Regiment  U.  S.  Infantry." 

This  appointment  was  unsolicited  and  unexpected,  and  as 


JOHN  F.  HARTRANFT.  517 

• 

he  had  decided  to  resume  the  pursuits  of  civil  life,  it  was 
thankfully  acknowledged,  but  respectfully  declined. 

In  August,  1865,  he  was  requested  to  permit  the  use  of  his 
name  as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Auditor-General,  but 
did  not  consent  till  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  the 
convention  assembled.  He  was  nominated  on  the  first  bal'ot 
—  the  vote  being  made  unanimous  before  it  was  declared  — 
and  elected  by  a  majority  of  nearly  twenty- three  thousand. 
In  1868  he  was  renominated  and  re-elected  by  a  handsome 
majority. 

The  manner  in  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of  this  trust 
may  be  inferred  from  his  nomination  for  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor, April  9th,  1872,  and  his  election,  on  the  10th  of 
October,  by  a  majority  exceeding  thirty-five  thousand.  Three 
times  submitted  to  the  test  of  the  popular  vote,  in  the  course  of  seven 
successive  years,  his  signal  success,  in  each  instance,  must  be  re- 
garded as  a  mark  of  extraordinary  respect  and  confidence  on  the 
part  of  the  people  of  his  native  State.  He  was  inaugurated  with 
the  usual  ceremonies,  January  21st,  1873. 

Governor  Hartranft  is  in  person  tall  and  prepossessing. 
A  vigorous  constitution,  and  an  active  life,  regulated  by 
strictly  temperate  habits,  have  endowed  him  with  superior 
powers  of  endurance.  The  balance  of  his  intellectual  and 
moral  powers  is  well  sustained.  A  few  words  will  paint  a 
truthful  portrait.  In  boyhood  dutiful  and  exemplary.  At 
school  and  college  thoughtful,  studious,  and  regardful  of 
authority.  Among  his  fellow-students  chiefly  distinguished 
for  those  qualities  which  ripen  into  the  leadership  of  men. 
Reserved  in  demeanor.  Patient  in  investigation.  Sound  in 
judgment.  Reticent  in  speech.  Prompt  and  swift  in  exe- 
cution. In  the  very  prime  of  manhood,  he  has  assumed  the 
duties  of  the  chief  magistracy,  supported  by  the  best  wishes 
of  the  people  of  a  grand  Commonwealth. 

Governor  Hartranft  was  married  January  26th,  1854,  to 
Sallie  Douglas  Sebring,  daughter  of  William  L.  Sebring,  of 
Easton.  Of  this  marriage  there  were  six  children,  of  whom 
four  are  living  —  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 


INDEX. 


Abercrombie,  General,  .placed  in  chief 
command  against  the  French,  162; 
leads  forces  against  forts  on  the  lakes; 
detachment  of  army  of,  captures  Fort 
Du  Quesne,  163. 

Aberdeen,  Scotland,  George  Keith,  na- 
tive of,  106. 

Abraham,  Plains  of,  battle  on,  164. 

Active,  The  British  ship,  taken  as  a 
prize  by  four  seamen  ;  seized  by  Cap- 
tain Houston  and  taken  to  port ;  trou- 
ble concerning  award  of  the  prize,  311. 

Acrelius,  quoted,  49. 

Adams,  John,  seconds  motion  on  Inde- 

E:ndence,  186,  246 ;  assists  Patrick 
enry,  242 ;  visits  Dickinson,  249 ;  de- 
scribes Dickinson,  250 ;  letter  of, 
quoted,  277 ;  letter  of  McKean  to, 
298  ;  friendship  for  McKean  ;  letter  to 
McKean,  3u5  ;  tribute  to  McKean,  306 ; 
inauguration  of;  succeeded  by  Jeffer- 
son, 3'J5;  allied  with  Federal  party,  343. 

Adams,  Samuel,  opposes  Washington, 
282;  John  Quincy,  elected  President, 
346. 

Aix-la-Chapelle,  treaty  of,  147. 

Albany,  fort  near,  17 ;  defence  of,  111 ; 
Indian  conference  at,  129,  147 ;  Gen- 
eral Congress  at,  154,  260. 

Alexander,  Major  General,  373;  Major 
J.  B.,  405. 

Alleghanies,  The,  settlers  push  beyond 
and  come  in  contact  with  the  French, 
149 ;  Virginians  occupy  land  west  of, 
180. 

Allen,  Nathaniel,  commissioner,  arrives, 
67  ;  William,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Col- 
ony ,  Anne,  daughter  of  Chief  Justice, 
marries  John  Penn,  189. 

Allison,  Rev.  Francis,  tutor  of  McKean, 
289. 

Almanac,  Poor  Richard's,  maxims  in, 
256,  257. 

Almond.  W.  B.,  470. 

Alrichs,  Jacob,  appointed  director  of 
City  Colony,  44 ;  seeks  advice  of  Stuy- 
vesant,  45 ;  wife  of,  dies,  46  ;  death  of, 
47. 

Alrichs.  P^'er,  farm  of,  seized  by  Ensign 


Stock,  52 ;  to  be  councillor,  53  ;  sent  to 
New  York  to  have  murderers  detected  ; 
testifies  before  council,  55;  Deputy 
Governor  on  west  side  of  the  -Dela- 
ware, 56 ;  appointed  commander  and 
schout;  to  administer  oath  of  alle- 
giance, 57  ;  deprived  of  office  of  Judge, 
but  reinstated,  58. 

Alter.  Susan,  marries  Joseph  Ritner; 
David,  361. 

America,  settlements  in,  17 ;  forms  alli- 
ance with  France,  207 ;  German  emi- 
grants to,  308. 

Aniherst,  General,  under  Abercrombie, 
162 ;  captures  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point,  163,  164;  commands  British 
army ;  captures  all  strongholds  in 
Canada,  166. 

Amsterdam,  merchants  of,  fit  out  vessels, 
19;  chamber  of,  22;  city  of,  loans 
money  to  West  India  Company,  44 ; 
land  on  south  bank  of  the  Delaware 
sold  to;  commissioners  of  colony  on 
Delaware,  to  reside  in,  44 ;  affects  a 
loan  ;  buys  territory  on  east  side  of  the 
Delaware,  48. 

Amundson,  John,  commissioned  captain 
in  the  navy;  superintends  construc- 
tion of  vessels  on  the  Delaware ;  ob- 
tains grant  of  land,  36;  military  and 
naval  authority  bestowed  upon,  36,  i!7. 

Amyrault,  Moses,  professor  of  divinity  ; 
instructs  Penn,  70. 

Andre,  Major,  224. 

Andrews,  Robert,  350. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  made  Governor; 
issues  proclamation ;  visits  the  Dela- 
ware ;  holds  a  court  at  New  Castle, ."»  : 
issues  instructions  to  justices;  pream- 
ble of  instructions,  59 ;  official  misman- 
agement of;  departs  for  England,  65. 

Angell,  Colonel,  at  Fort  Mercer,  20.~>. 

Anne,  Princess,  succeeds  King  William  ; 
favors  Penn,  116. 

Antes,  Catharine,  marries  Simon  Snyder, 
821. 

Anthony,  Joseph  B.,  first  teacher  of 
Governor  Pollock,  426 ;  law  tutor  w 
Goveruor  Packer,  435. 

519 


520 


INDEX. 


Anti-Masonic  party  supports  Ritner, 
862,  .'57(1 ;  Burrowes  Chairman  of  State 
Executive  Committee  of  the,  370. 

Archives,  Pennsylvania,  quoted,  231. 

Armstrong,  Colonel,  destroys  Indian- 
town  of  Kittanning;  gallantry  of; 
presented  with  medal  and  plate  by 
city  of  Philadelphia,  161 ;  collects 
force  in  Cumberland  County ;  ad- 
vances upon,  and  destroys  Indian 
towns;  General,  sends  Colonel  Boquet 
to  relieve  Fort  Pitt,  168. 

Armstrong  County,  Governor  Johnston 
removes  to,  405. 

Armitage,  Saruh,  marries  Thomas  Mc- 
Kean,  30H. 

Arnold,  General  Benedict,  commands 
camp  for  recruits,  200;  wounded  at 
Saratoga ;  assigned  to  command  of 
Philadelphia,  211;  Council  brings 
charges  against ;  extravagance  of; 
marries;  is  court-martialled;  resigns 
commission  ;  corresponds  with  British 
officers,  224;  ruin  of,  traced,  225; 
Reed  prosecutes  charges  against,  225  ; 
treason  of;  goes  to  Virginia  as  British 
officer,  248 ;  treachery  in  the  Umstead 
case,  311. 

Arran,  Lord  of,  forces  under,  joined  by 
Penu,  71. 

Artillerists,  Republican,  of  Chester 
County ;  erect  monument  atPaoli,  203. 

Assembly,  of  Province,  meets  at  Chester; 
passes  "Great  Law,"  86;  adjourns; 
met  by  Penn  ;  members  of  Council,  and 
adopt  new  charter;  number  of  mem- 
bers reduced,  87  ;  grants  Penn  impost 
xi  I  inn  imports,  88;  attempts  to  check 
arbitrary  rule  of  Blackwell ;  Governor 
Blackwell  forms  party  in,  105 ;  sum- 
moned by  Fletcher,  110;  money  de- 
manded of,  for  defence  of  Albany ; 
passes  rate  bill ;  dissolved  by  Fletcher, 
111  ;  met  by  Markham  ;  disregards  or- 
ganic law  ; 'passes  money  bill  and  new 
constitution;  number  of  members,  114; 
long  debate  of,  on  new  constitution  ; 
adopts  constitution,  115;  dissolves  the 
union  between  Province  and  territories; 
number  of  representatives  to  the,  dou- 
bled, 117;  efforts  in,  by  Governor  Evans, 
to  restore  union  of  the  territories  and 
Province;  obstinacy  of,  in  opposing 
re-union;  bill  confirming  provincial 
charter,  not  approved  by  the  Governor, 
118;  draws  up  address  to  the  Proprie- 
tor; quarrels  of;  dismissed  by  the 
Governor;  new  members  elected,  and 
business  transacted  with  dispatch,  119; 
clamorous  to  prosecute  Evans;  cites 
offences  of  Evans;  solicited  to  appro- 
priate money,  by  Gookin;  new  mem- 
bers of,  elected  ;  passes  prohibitory 


slave  law  ;  act  of,  against  slavery  an- 
nulled by  the  Crown,  122 ;  leaves  salary 
of  Governor  in  arrears;  Gov.  Gookin 
rri'tiM-s  to  recognize;  committee  of, 
driven  from  the  Governor's  door; 
adjourns  without  attending  to  any 
business,  124;  convened  by  Keith; 
asks  Governor  to  dissolve,  125;  Gov- 
ernor Keith's  skilful  management  of; 
passes  acts  forming  court  of  equi- 
ty, and  a  militia  organization,  12.S ; 
meets  Gordon  and  addresses ;  Keith 
foments  difficulties  in  ;  .meets  and  pre- 
sents address  to  George  II.,  13'2 ;  draws 
distinction  in  reference  to  treaties  with 
Indians,  133 ;  Mr.  Paris  agent  of; 
stays  hurtful  resolution  of,  135;  con- 
gratulatory addresses  to  Thomas  and 
John  Penn,  135  ;  met  by  Gov.  Thomas ; 
Hamilton,  Speaker,  takes  leave  of, 
141  ;  averse  to  voting  money,  142 ; 
messages  pass  between  Governor  and; 
complaints  of,  concerning  enlistment 
of  servants ;  provides  for  losses  of  mas- 
ters of  servants  ;  contentions  between 
Governor  and,  increase,  143 ;  refuses  to 
vote  Governor  Thomas  his  salary ; 
answer  to  Governor's  complaint ;  Qua- 
ker element  strong  in  ;  not  to  be  sub- 
dued to  Governor's  will ;  votes  arrear- 
ages of  Governor's  salary,  144  ;  Gov- 
ernor communicates  death  of  John 
Penn  to,  145 ;  urged  to  provide  means 
of  defence,  but  refuses,  146 ;  objects  to 
defensive  warfare ;  votes  money  for 
gifts  to  the  Indians,  150  ;  demands  that 
the  Proprietors  should  bear  part  of 
expense  of  Indians ;  has  controversy 
with  the  Proprietors,  151,  152 ;  urged 
by  Hamilton  to  vote  money  for  de- 
fence ;  provides  for  issue  of  paper  cur- 
rency, 1 53 ;  borrows  money  for  sup- 
port of  troops,  155,  156 ;  sends  Frank- 
lin to  confer  with  Braddock,  156 ;  votes 
fifty  thousand  pounds  to  the  king's  use 
for  protection  of  the  frontier ;  remon- 
strates with  Governor  against  veto, 
157  ;  votes  money  for  northern  opera- 
tions, 158 ;  Franklin  takes  seat  in ; 
meeting  of,  159 ;  act  of,  for  organizing 
militia  ;  money  bill  of,  vetoed  by  Gov- 
ernor Denny,  160;  passes  bill  levying 
one  hundred  thousand  pounds  upon 
all  estates ;  bill  of,  vetoed,  161 ;  exempts 
Proprietary  estates  from  taxation ; 
sends  Franklin  to  England  to  represent 
grievances  to  the  Throne  against  the 
Proprietors,  162;  sends  remonstrance 
to  the  Proprietors,  164 ;  bill  of,  taxing 
Proprietary  estates,  approved  by  the 
King,  165;  convened  by  Hamilton, 
166 ;  votes  money  to  prosecute  war 
against  Indians;  modifies  bill  to  suit 


INDEX. 


521 


the  Governor's  views ;  condemns  course 
of  Proprietors ;  adjourns  for  fifty  days ; 
petitions  the  King  to  assume  direct  gov- 
ernment of  the  Province,  173,  235; 
action  of,  in  reference  to  taxation  of 
the  Colonies,  173 ;  dines  with  the  Gov- 
ernor; instructs  agent  in  London  to 
urge  repeal  of  revenue  act,  174 ;  action 
of,  on  letters  received  on  Colonial  af- 
fairs relating  to  taxation  ;  urges  entire 
repeal  of  tax  law,  175 ;  rejects  decisions 
of  Continental  Congress  on  Wyoming 
controversy  ;  Council  forbidden  to  ap- 
prove acts  of,  177  ;  Richard  Penn's  in- 
tercourse with,  179 ;  general  conference 
instructs  the,  182 ;  adopts  instructions ; 
appoints  delegates  to  Congress ;  recom- 
mendations of  Congress  approved  by, 
183 ;  message  of  John  Peun  to ;  pro- 
vides pay  for  militia,  184;  appoints 
committee  of  safety ;  resolve  of  public 
meeting  against  the,  185;  instructs 
delegates  in  Congress  ;  declaration  of, 
186 ;  adjourned  sessions  of  the ;  ceases 
to  exist ;  last  acts  of,  188 ;  passes  postal 
law,  258.  See  Commonwealth,  Assem- 
bly of  the. 

Atchinson,  George,  417. 

Auditor-General,  Packer  appointed,  438. 

Augur,  General  C.  C.,  477. 

Babb,  Matthias,  335. 

Balance,  the  ship,  dispatched  to  bring 
ship  Mercury  to  New  Amsterdam,  44. 

Baltimore,  city  of,  included  in  Penn's 
charter,  60 ;  Congress  adjourns  to 
meet  at,  197 ;  Congress  returns  to 
Philadelphia  from,  199 ;  attacked  by 
General  Ross,  316 ;  guarantees  bonds 
of  railroad,  442;  revolt  in,  459. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  demands  surrender  of 
territory  on  the  Delaware;  lets  claim 
rest,  47 ;  throws  obstacles  in  Penn's 
way,  60 ;  letter  to,  from  Penn ;  con- 
fers with  Markham  about  boundary, 
66 ;  Penn  unable  to  agree  with ;  sub- 
mits question  of  boundary  to  home 
government,  101 ;  applies  for  trans- 
fer of  the  lower  counties,  136 ;  claims 
jurisdiction  over  lower  counties,  141. 

Bancroft,  the  historian,  quoted,  22,  41, 
42,  100. 

Bank  of  United  States,  Jackson  opposes; 
Wolf  approves,  360 ;  failure  of,  417  ; 
Bank  of  Pennsylvania  fails,  417. 

Banks,  General  N.  P.,  477. 

Banner,  The  Star  -  Spangled,  song  of, 
composed,  316. 

Barbadoes,  Dickinson  writes  pamphlet 
to  inhabitants  of,  236. 

Barney,  Commodore,  fleet  of,  abandoned 
and  burned,  315. 

Barrett,  0.,  438. 


Battles,  Braddock's  Defeat,  157 ;  Quebec, 
164 ;  Lexington,  184, 275 ;  Bunker  Hill, 
185 ;  Brandy  wine,  202,  203 ;  German- 
town,  203;  Pass  of  La  Hoya ;  Chapul te- 
pee ;  Garita  de  Belen,  470 ;  Bolivar, 
476  ;  Cedar  Mountain  ;  Bull  Run ;  An- 
tietam,  477  ;  Fredericksburg ;  Chancel- 
lorsville ;  Gettysburg,  478 ;  Chicka- 
mauga,  479;  Wauhatchie;  Lookout 
Mountain  ;  Mission  Ridge ;  Ringgold ; 
480 ;  Mill  Creek ;  Resaca ;  New  Hope 
Church;  Pine  Hill;  Muddy  Creek; 
Nose's  Creek ;  Kolb's  Farm ;  Kene- 
saw ;  Marietta ;  Peach-Tree  Creek  ; 
Siege  of  Atlanta,  483 ;  Fort  McAllis- 
ter; Savannah;  Bentonville,  484. 

Bladensburg,  315. 

Bay,  The  Delaware,  discovered,  18;  land 
on,  conveyed  to  Penn,  82;  Penn  de- 
sirous of  holding,  101. 

Bay  of  New  York,  17 ;  discovered,  18 ; 
Chesapeake,  17. 

Beekman,  William,  appointed  vice-di- 
rector ;  sketch  of,  46 ;  in  charge  of 
West  India  Company's  revenues,  47 ; 
jurisdiction  ends ;  returns  to  New 
Amsterdam ;  commissary  at  Esopus  ; 
envious  of  D'Hinoyossa,  49. 

Bellefonte,  450,  451,  455. 

Benckes,  with"  Evertson,  in  command  of 
squadron,  56. 

Benner,  General  Philip,  451. 

Berkeley,  Lord,  and  Sir  George  Carteret, 
grant  of  Southern  New  Jersey  to,  53; 
sell  part  of  territory,  60 ;  statutes  of,  77. 

Berks  County,  Indian  murders  in,  162 ; 
Heister  brothers  settle  in ;  Joseph 
Heister  born  in,  333 ;  John  Andrew 
Shulze  born  in ;  is  pastor  in,  344;  Rit- 
ner  born  in,  361. 

Bettering  House,  212. 

Beversreede,  redoubt  at,  recommended,  34. 

Bezer,  John,  Commissioner,  arrives,  67. 

Bicker,  Gerrit,  in  command  of  Fort  Cas- 
imir,  37. 

Biddle,  Edward,  delegate  to  Congress, 
183. 

Bigler,  William,  birth  of;  parents  of; 
education,  414;  learns  printing;  pub- 
lishes a  paper ;  removes  to  Clearheld, 
415;  fine  marksman;  marries,  416; 
enters  mercantile  business ;  large  lum- 
ber dealer ;  elected  to  the  Senate ;  re- 
ceives every  vote  in  his  county  but  one, 
417 ;  speaks  upon  resumption  of  specie 
payments ;  Speaker  of  the  Senate ; 
returned  for  a  second  term  ;  advocates 
building  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, 
418;  advocate  of  the  Tyrone  and 
Clearfield,  and  Philadelphia  and  Erie 
railroads ;  candidate  in  convention  for 
Governor ;  Revenue  Commissioner ; 
elected  Governor,  420 ;  administration, 


622 


INDEX. 


420 ;  opposes  omnibus  legislation,  421 ; 
renommated;  illness  of;  defeated  by 
the  Native  American  party ;  opinion 
on  Kansas-Nebraska  Dill ;"  President 
Philadelphia  and  Erie  Railroad ;  elect- 
ed to  the  United  States  Senate ;  pitted 
against  Douglas,  422 ;  travels  over 
Kansas,  and  urges  Free  State  men  to 
action ;  acts  with  Crittenden  in  his 
Compromise  measures ;  opposes  seces- 
sion ;  member  of  Committee  on  the 
Crittenden  Compromise;  member  of 
Charleston  Convention ;  Chairman  of 
Democratic  Convention  of  1804;  de- 
feated for  Congress ;  delegate  to  Dem- 
ocratic Convention  of  1868 ;  living  in 
retirement;  member  of  Presbyterian 
Church,  424. 

Bigler,  John,  Governor  of  California, 
414,  420  ;  Jacob,  father  of,  414. 

Big  Timber  Creek,  21. 

Billingsport,  defences  at,  200. 

Billop,  Captain  Christopher,  succeeds 
Collier,  60. 

Binns,  John,  gives  incident  of  Governor 
Suyder,  318. 

Birmingham,  brother-in-law  of  Gookin, 
124 ;  township  in  Bucks  Countv  named 
for,  124. 

Birmingham,  meeting-house,  battle  at; 
wounded  carried  to,  202;  stains  of 
blood  on  floor  of,  203. 

Blackwell,  Captain  John,  commissioned 
Deputy  Governor,  104 ;  Penn's  opinion 
of;  Penn  disappointed  in  reference  to  ; 
arbitrary  rule  of;  relieved  of  office,  105. 

Blanchard,  John,  451. 

Block,  Adrian,  vessel  of,  burned ;  builds 
first  vessel  ever  built  in  America,  19. 

Block,  Hans,  to  be  councillor,  53. 

Bloemart,  Samuel,  purchases  tract  of 
land,  23 ;  joined  by  De  Vries,  23. 

Blue  Ridge,  323,  477. 

Board  of  War,  established,  280,  282; 
members  of,  280,  281. 

Boileau,  Roland  Curtin,  451. 

Boquet,  Colonel,  sent  to  relief  of  Fort 
Pitt ;  arrives  at  Fort  Ligonier ;  attacked 
by  Indians  near  Bushy  Run  ;  lays  am- 
buscade ;  routs  Indians ;  arrives  at  Fort 
Pitt,  168 ;  marches  from  Carlisle  to 
Fort  Pitt;  reaches  forks  of  the  Mus- 
kingum,  171;  strikes  terror  into  the 
Indians,  172. 

Borden,  Mary,  marries  Thomas  McKean ; 
Joseph,  306. 

Boston,  harbor,  17;  Colonel  isicholls  ar- 
rives at,  51 ;  vessels  sent  to,  boarded 
and  tea  thrown  into  the  water;  harbor 
proclaimed  a  tea-pot,  181 ;  port  closed  ; 
harsh  measures  towards,  182,  183; 
AVashingtpu  in  camp  at,  275. 

Boundary  line  of  Pennsylvania,  66,  67. 


Bowers,  Theodosia,  mother  of  President 
Reed,  216. 

Braddock,  General,  arrives  at  Alexan- 
dria, Va.,  with  two  regiments ;  marches 
to  Frederick,  Md. ;  Franklin  sent  to, 
and  commissioned  by,  to  procure  trans- 
portation, 156,  258 ;  advances  on  Fort 
Du  Quesne ;  scorns  advice  of  Washing- 
ton, 156 ;  battle  with  French  and  In- 
dians ;  mortally  wounded ;  defeat  of, 
left  the  frontier  unprotected,  157. 

Bradford,  William,  253. 

Brandon,  John,  436. 

Breckenridge,  Judge,  asks  to  be  im- 
peached, 326  ;  official  conduct  investi- 
gated ;  Governor  asked  to  remove  from 
office,  327. 

Brigadier  General,  eight  appointed,  185. 

Bright,  General  Michael,  commands 
militia  ordered  out  by  Governor  Sny- 
der,  312. 

Brinton's  Ford,  on  Brandywine  Creek ; 
General  Sullivan  at,  202. 

British,  The,  part  of  army  sent  against 
Indians,  166;  ministry,  prosecute  war 
with  the  Indians,  171 ;  ministry  of- 
fended at  Massachusetts'  circular  let- 
ters, 171 ;  troops  withdrawn  from  Fort 
Pitt,  180;  invade  Pennsylvania,  201; 
army  march  into  Philadelphia,  204; 
wanton  conduct  in  Philadelphia;  fleet 
follows  D'Estang,  212 ;  army  under 
Cornwallis  surrenders,  248 ;  incite  In- 
dians to  hostilities ;  army  on  Canada 
frontier  unfortunate;  murder  sick  and 
wounded  prisoners,  314. 

British  America,  finest  capital  city  in, 
133 ;  Logan's  life  in,  a  laborious  one, 
141 ;  French  power  in,  to  be  broken, 
163 ;  taxation  of,  181 ;  address  of  first 
Congress  to  people  of,  183. 

Brockholls,  Captain  Anthony,  succeeds 
Andros  as  Governor,  65 ;  king's  decla- 
ration delivered  to,  by  Markham,  65. 

Brown,  General  Jacob,  victories  of,  315  ; 
Adjutant,  ancestor  of  Governor  Find- 
lay,  323 ;  John,  famous  "  Raid  "  of, 
446,  447 ;  Mr.,  teaches  Curtin,  451. 

Bryan,  George,  appointed  to  attend  gene- 
ral Congress,  173,  213 ;  elected  Vice- 
President  of  Council,  199  ;  acting  Presi- 
dent of  Council,  211;  re-elected  Vice- 
President ;  resigns ;  born  in  Ireland  ; 
engages  in  mercantile  pursuits;  mem- 
ber of  Assembly  j'message  of,  on  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  213  ;  Judge  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  214;  member  of  Council 
of  Censors ;  death  of;  character  of,  215. 

Buchanan,  James,  presides  over  meeting 
of  Federalists,  344 ;  speech  of,  353,  380 ; 
Governor  Porter  friend  of,  389 ;  Presi- 
dent, 422,  443  ;  Packer's  letter  to,  44-4 ; 
Geary  resigns  governorship  to,  475 


INDEX. 


523 


Buckshot  War  [commonly  termed  the], 
account  of,  371,  374. 

Bucks  County,  Pennsbury  Manor  in,  95 ; 
Buckingham  township  in,  124 ;  John 
Penn  resides  in,  189,  434,  435. 

Burgoyne,  General,  captures  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga ;  surrenders  at  Saratoga,  203. 

Burrowes,  Thomas  H.,  appointed  Secre- 
tary of  Commonwealth ;  friend  of  edu- 
cation, 365 ;  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools ;  appoints  Ritner  inspec- 
tor, 366 ;  pays  tribute  to  Wolf  and 
Ritner,  368 ;  Chairman  State  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Anti-Masonic 
party,  370 ;  address  of,  on  the  election, 
371. 

Bushy  Run,  battle  with  Indians  near, 
168. 

Butler,  Colonel,  leader  of  Connecticut 
claimants ;  barbarous  offer  to  settle  dis- 
pute, 176. 

Bye,  Charity,  mother  of  Governor 
Packer ;  Hezekiah,  434. 

Byllinge,  Edward,  Fenwick  buys  land 
for ;  a  Friend ;  fortunes  impaired ; 
assigns  property ;  put  in  possession  of 
West  New  Jersey,  60 ;  trustee  for  West 
Jersey  colonists,  77. 

Cadwalader,  General,  joins  Washington 
with  brigade,  197 ;  in  command  of 
Pennsylvania  troops ;  unable  to  cross 
the  Delaware  to  Trenton,  198;  Mary, 
234. 

Callowhill,  Thomas,  father  of  Penn's  sec- 
ond wife,  95. 

Cambria  County,  468. 

Cambridge,  Union  Flag  unfurled  first  at, 
194. 

Cameron,  Simon,  435. 

Campanius,  the  historian,  quoted,  39. 

Canada,  French  from,  establish  trading- 
posts,  134,  146 ;  given  up  to  the  Eng- 
lish, 167,  261;  pamphlet  on,  263; 
Franklin  visits,  264;  Wellington's 
veterans  sent  to,  315. 

Canal,  The  West  Branch,  opposed,  436 ; 
completed,  437 ;  Board  of  Commission- 
ers, 438 ;  the  Franklin,  443. 

Cancer,  Tropic  of,  20. 

Canonsburg,  467. 

Cantwell,  Captain  Edmund,  sent  to  the 
Delaware ;  Captain  and  Schout,  and 
to  administer  oath;  made  Deputy 
Governor,  58 ;  superseded  by  Collier,  59. 

Cape  Henlopen,  82. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  20. 

Capital,  the  State,  building  of,  com- 
menced ;  corner-stone  laid  by  Governor 
Findlay,  330. 

Carlisle,  town  of,  militia  march  from,  to 
Fort  Du  Quesne,  163,  171 ;  college  at, 
endowed,  248. 


Carlisle,  Earl,  British  commissioner,  225. 

Carpenter's  Hall,  Congress  meets  in,  241 ; 
convention  of  deputies  meets  in,  295. 

Carpenter,  Samuel,  takes  Lloyd's  place 
in  Council,  104. 

Carr,  Sir  Robert,  commissioner,  51 ;  dis- 
patched to  the  Delaware;  conciliates 
the  Swedes  and  Finns ;  storms  Dutch 
fort ;  seizes  farm  of  D'Hinoyossa,  52. 

Carr,  Captain  John,  seizes  farm  of  Van 
Sweringen,  52 ;  to  command  on  the  Del- 
aware, 53 ;  matter  of  sale  of  liquor  to 
the  Indians  referred  to ;  order  in 
council  concerning  liquor  licenses 
made  on  recommendation,  54 ;  receives 
George  Fox,  55. 

Carrickfergus,  garrison  of,  mutiny  in,  71. 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  and  Lord  Berkeley, 
grant  of  Southern  New  Jersey  to,  53  ; 
sell  part  of  territory,  60 ;  statutes  of, 
77. 

Cartlidge,  two  brothers  named,  kill  In- 
dian, 129. 

Cartwright,  Sir  George,  commissioner,  51. 

Casimir,  Fort,  erected;  rendered  Fort 
Elsinborg  useless,  35 ;  Gerrit  Bicker  in 
command  of;  taken  by  Rysingh,  37 ; 
Swen  Schute  in  command  of;  surren- 
ders to  Stuyvesant,  41 ;  Derek  Smidt 
the  herald  to  demand  surrender  of; 
seat  of  government  at,  43 ;  called  New 
Castle;  Indian  murderer  hung  in 
chains  at,  55. 

Cass,  Lewis,  minister  to  France ;  con- 
verses with  the  King  on  troubles  in 
Pennsylvania,  374. 

Catholics,  Roman,  Penn's  tract  against, 
76. 

Cavaliers,  The,  followed  Smith  to  Vir- 
ginia, 17. 

Centre  County,  Wm.  F.  Packer  born  in, 
434;  435,  440,  450,  451,  465.  ' 

Chadd's  Ford,  Washington  at,  202. 

Chambersburg,  330. 

Champlain,  Lake,  166. 

Charles  River,  17 ;  the  Dutch  name  of 
Delaware  river,  18.  • 

Charlestown,  Mass.,  tea  stored  in,  181. 

Charleston,  S.  C.,  attacked  by  British, 
195 ;  enemy  withdraw  from,  196. 

Charles,  Robert,  appointed  associate  of 
Franklin  at  London,  1(34. 

Charles  II.,  grants  patent  to  Duke  of 
York;  ascends  tnrone,  51;  renews 
grant  to  Duke  of  York,  58  ;  declaration 
of,  respecting  grant  to  Penn,  65  ;  Char- 
ter of,  to  Penn,  6(> ;  Penn  petitions  ; 
names  Pennsylvania,  78;  dies,  89,  109; 
succeeded  by  his  brother  James,  109. 

Charter,  Penn's,  date  of,  65. 

Chatham,  Earl  of,  on  addresses  of  Con 
gress,  243. 

Chesapeake  Bay,  17,  47. 


524 


INDEX. 


Chester,  militia  stationed  at,  201 ;  Ameri- 
can army  retires  to,  after  battle  of 
Brandywine,  '203. 

Chester  County,  artillerists  of,  erect  a 
monument,  203 ;  incident  relating  to, 
319,  434. 

Christina,  Queen,  succeeds  to  throne  of 
Sweden;  creek  named  after;  fort 
named  after,  30  ;  ministers  of.  instnict 
Printz,  33 ;  feeble  reign  of;  yields  throne 
to  Charles  Gustavus,  40. 

Christina,  Fort,  30;  colony  at,  in  want, 
31 ;  Governor  Printz  arrives  at,  32 ; 
under  command  of  Governor  Rysingh  ; 
besieged ;  surrendered  to  Stuy  vesant ; 
inhuman  conduct  of  Dutch  troops  at, 
41 ;  commanded  by  Hudde ;  called 
Altona,  44. 

Church,  Robert  R.,  489. 

Church,  The  Established,  party  of,  in- 
imical to  Quaker  rule,  116. 

Cicero,  his  l)e  Senectute  translated  by 
James  Logan,  139. 

Clarke,  James,  438. 

Clay,  Henry,  452. 

Claypoole,  James,  commissioners  of  land 
office,  102  ;  appointed  one  of  five  com- 
missioners, but  never  acted,  103. 

Clearn'eld,  William  Bigler  removes  to, 
415,  424 ;  County  of,  437. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  sails  from  Boston  on 
secret  expedition,  195 ;  attacks  Charles- 
ton, S.  C.,  and  meets  with  repulse  ; 
joins  Howe  at  New  York,  196 ;  takes 
command  of  British  army,  206  ;  evacu- 
ates Philadelphia  and  moves  towards 
New  York;  fights  at  Monmouth, 
207. 

Clinton  County,  435,  439,  440. 

Clymer,  George,  appointed  member  of 
Congress ;  signs  Declaration,  187. 

Clymer,  Heister,  486. 

Coaquannock,  at  the  site  of  Philadel- 
phia, 82. 

Coates,  Ann,  434. 

Cock,  Peter,  to  be  councillor,  53. 

Cogswell,  Robert,  party  from  Connecti- 
cut sail  under,  31. 

Coleman,  Henry,  engaged  with  the  Long 
Finn  in  an  insurrection,  54  ;  taken  and 
transported,  54. 

Coleman,  William,  merchant;  Mifflin  in 
counting-house  of,  273;  member  of 
Junto ;  described  by  Franklin,  274. 

College  of  Commerce,  the  Swedish,  com- 
mission John  Amundson ;  Rysingh 
Secretary  of,  36. 

College,  Philadelphia,  authority  of  trus- 
tees suspended,  208. 

College,  Dickinson,  endowed;  named  in 
memory  of  John  Dickinson,  248 ;  Dr. 
Nisbet,  President  of,  249. 

Collier,  Captain  John,  made  commander 


on  the  Delaware ;  usurps  authority ; 
is  deposed  bv  Andross,  59. 
Colony,  the  Virginia,  18,  26;  first  on 
Delaware ;  attention  drawn  to,  by  de 
Laet,  22;  of  fifty  souls,  ruler  of.  23; 
Hosset  left  in  charge  of,  24;  young, 
destroyed,  26;  of  Connecticut,  28; 
passengers  of  ship  Mercury  absorbed 
in  the,  44;  year  of  distress  in  the, 
46  ;  evils  in,  due  to  Alrichs ;  the  city's, 
represented  by  Beekman,  47  ;  that  of, 
city  evades  payment  of  the  revenues ; 
transfer  of  the  Niew  Amstet,  48; 
Swedes  plans  repossession  of,  49 ;  cer- 
emonies in  the  New  England,  49; 
Needham  placed  in  command  in, 
53;  twelve  articles  for  government  of, 
59;  Upland,  the  heart  of,  66';  ships 
arrive  with  four  commissioners ;  laws 
in  force  in,  67 ;  Penn's  influence  in, 
puissant,  108  ;  Lloyd's  influence  over 
the,  112;  Peiin  arrives  in,  115.  See 
Province. 

Colonies,  the  two  Northern,  of  Delaware, 
23 ;  the  New  England,  28 ;  in  the  New 
World,  29;  the  New  England  and 
Virginia,  31 ;  importation  of  negroes 
in,  a  source  of  revenue,  123;  French 
encroach  upon,  148 ;  raise  troops 
against  the  French,  153 ;  all  to  con- 
tribute men  and  money  for  defence  of 
frontier,  111 ;  conference  of  Governors 
of,  at  Albany,  129 ;  encroachment  of 
home  government  on,  134 ;  first  gen- 
eral Congress  of,  meets ;  plan  of  gov- 
ernment for,  prepared  by  Franklin, 
154 ;  military  operations  along  line  of, 
163 ;  money  voted  to,  for  expenses  in 
French  war,  166 ;  taxing  of,  considered 
in  Parliament,  172 ;  agents  of,  informed 
that  revenue  was  to  be  drawn  from 
stamp-duty ;  stamp  act  meets  intense 
opposition  in ;  action  of  the,  in  regard 
to  stamp  act ;  occasion  of  independence 
of,  173;  Congress  of,  meets,  174;  last 
petition  of,  to  the  King,  entrusted  to 
Richard  Penn  and  Arthur  Lee,  179 ; 
non-importation  agreements  of;  action, 
of,  on  the  taxation  of  tea;  conduct  of, 
exasperates  the  ministry,  181 ;  sympa- 
thy of,  towards  Massachusetts,  182; 
Congress  of,  182,  183 ;  resolve  against 
importations,  183 ;  John  Perm  believed 
to  sympathize  with;  Ministry  resolve 
to  enforce  submission  of;  great  excite- 
ment in,  184 :  to  form  new  govern- 
ments, 185 ;  united,  declared  free,  186. 

Colonial  Records,  quoted,  95. 

Colonists,  West  Jersey,  Penn's  letter  to; 
under    Carteret    and    Berkeley,    77; 
and  the  Indians,  80,  86 ;  code  of  laws 
for,  80. 
'olonization,  17,  20,  21. 


INDEX. 


525 


Colve,  Captain  Anthony,  Governor  of 
New  Netherland ;  in  command  of 
military  forces,  56 ;  yields  power  to 
Andros,  58. 

Commander-in-Chief,  Washington,  ap- 
pointed, 185. 

Commissioners  sent  to  Chesapeake  Bay, 
47  ;  four  arrive  from  England,  67 ; 
duties  of;  Penn  sends  letter  with,  to 
the  Indians,  68. 

Commissioners,  five,  appointed,  and  ex- 
ecutive power  lodged  in ;  instruc- 
tions of  Penn  to,  103. 

Commissioners  to  provide  arms,  185; 
British,  appointed ;  attempt  bribery, 
225 ;  to  settle  Wyoming  controversy, 
meet  at  Trenton,  229. 

Committee  of  Safety,  McKean  chairman 
of,  296.  . 

Common  schools,  system  of,  inaugurated, 
353,  358;  Burrowes,  ex-officio  Super- 
intendent, 368 ;  interest  of  Porter  in ; 
Shunk  Superintendent,  387.  See 
Schools. 

Commons,  House  of,  Franklin  before  the, 
261,  262. 

Commonwealth.    See  Pennsylvania. 

Company,  The  Dutch  East  India,  em- 
ploy Hudson,  18;  of  merchants  of  Am- 
sterdam, exclusive  privileges  granted 
to,  19;  West  India,  in  contemplation  ; 
Dutch  West  India,  incorporated  ;  sub- 
scription to  its  stock  open  to  all  na- 
tions; divided  into  five  branches,  20; 
West  India,  powers  enlarged,  22 ; 

e-ivileges  to  patroons  granted  by,  23  ; 
utch,  30. 

Company,  The  West  India,  report  of 
Stuyvesant  to;  the  Amsterdam,  make 
new  conditions  of  settlement,  46. 

Condorcet,  oration  of,  on  Franklin,  at 
Paris,  268. 

Conesto^a  Creek,  Indians  on,  33. 

Couestoga,  conference  of  Indian  chiefs 
with  Gov.  Keith  at,  128;  Indian  killed 
near,  129;  Indian  assassins  traced  to; 
massacre  of  Indians  at,  169. 

Confederation,  Articles  of,  McKean  on 
committee  to  draw ;  gave  power  to 
Congress,  294. 

Conference,  general,  held ;  resolves  of; 
instructs  Assembly,  182  ;  second,  held; 
Reed,  president  of;  resolves  of,  184; 
approves  Declaration  of  Independence, 
and  raising  militia,  186;  Joseph  Hies- 
ter  a  member  of,  334.  See  Provincial 
Convention. 

Congress,  the  first  general,  meets,  154, 
173,  174,  235,  291;  delegates  to,  from 
Pennsylvania,  173,  235;  vote  in,  on 
representation,  291 ;  McKean  repre 
sents  Delaware  in,  293. 

Congress,The  Continental,  decide  in  favor 


of  Connecticut  claimants,  177 ;  action 
of  people  toward  convening,  182 ;  as- 
sembled at  Philadelphia;  resolves  of 
delegates  of,  from  Pennsylvania;  presi- 
dent and  secretary  of;  addresses  of; 
adjourned ;  delegates  from  Pennsylva- 
nia to  second  meeting,  183,  241 ;  King 
receives  address  of,  kindly ;  action  of, 
approved  by  second  Pennsylvania  con- 
vention ;  second,  meets ;  resolves  to  or- 
ganize army,  184  ;  recommends  forma- 
tion of  new  governments  in  the  colo- 
nies, 185;  arrests  John  Penn,  189; 
agrees  upon  articles  of  war ;  issues  bills 
of  credit,  194;' alarmed  ;  adjourns  to 
meet  in  Baltimore ;  invests  Washing- 
ton with  dictatorial  powers;  returns  to 
Philadelphia,  199 ;  establishes  camp 
for  recruits ;  General  Mifflin  appears  be- 
fore, 200;  adjourns  to  meet  at  Lancas- 
ter and  at  York,  204 ;  sends  ambassa- 
dors to  France,  207  ;  returns  to  Phila- 
delphia, 211 ;  refuses  to  listen  to  Brit- 
ish Commissioners  of  peace,  225 ;  ap- 
points commission  to  settle  Wyoming 
controversy,  229 ;  Mifflin  delegate  to, 
274;  refuses  Minim's  resignation,  281, 
282  ;  asks  inquiry  into  Miftiin's  conduct, 
281 ;  confidence  of,  in  Mifliin  renewed ; 
party  in,  fault  Washington  ;  appoints 
Board  of  War,  282 ;  McKean  president 
of;  Hanson  president  of,  299. 

Congress,  of  the  United  States,  decides 
Wyoming  controversy  in  favor  of  Penn- 
sylvania, 177  ;  Hiester  member  of,  339 ; 
Wolf  member  of,  351 ;  debates  on  tariff 
in,  300 ;  Pollock  member  of,  426  ;  first 
action  of,  on  Pacific  Railroad,  427. 

Coningsmark,  the  Swedish  general,  father 
of  Long  Finn,  54. 

Connecticut,  claim  of,  as  to  western 
boundary,  50,  175  ;  authorities  to  meet 
Lovelace,  56  ;  emigrants  settle  in  Wyo- 
ming valley ;  people  of,  form  Susque- 
hanna  Company  ;  Governor  Penn  pro- 
tests to  Governor  of,  176;  question  of 
claim  settled,  177,229  ;  warfare  in,  248. 

Connolly,  one,  occupies  Fort  Pitt;  im- 
prisoned by  Governor  Penn,  180. 

Constitution,  of  the  Province ;  features 
in,  80 ;  defect  in,  81 ;  relinquished  by 
Assembly ;  new  one  prepared ;  last, 
granted  to  Province  and  Territories, 
provisions  of,  97  ;  Assembly  pass  new, 
114;  long  debate  on  new;  adopted, 
115;  review  of,  by  Franklin,  165. 

Constitution,  of  1776,  convention  assem- 
bles for  framing,  187;  completed; 
signed  ;  intrusted  to  Council  of  Safety, 
188;  provisions  of,  194;  opposition  to, 
223,  286  ;  convention  to  revise,  286,  301. 

Constitution  of  1790,  adopted,  286  ;  Simon 
Snyder  member  of  convention  to  frame, 


i2G 


INDEX. 


809 ;  Hiester  member  of  convention  to 
frame,  339 ;  Ritner  the  last  Governor 
under,  361. 

Constitution,  of  1838,  strips  executive  of 
appointing  power;  provision  to  pro- 
vide for  death  of  Governor,  407  ;  Gov- 
ernor Bigler  on  amending  the,  421. 

Constitution  of  United  States,  convention 
of,  249,  265  ;  submitted  to  the  States  for 
ratification;  opposition  to,  300;  pro- 
visions of,  reference  to,  447,  448,  449, 
474. 

Convention,  Provincial,  second,  meets ; 
resolves  of,  184 ;  meeting  in  Philadel- 
phia recommend  calling,  to  form  new 
government;  delegates  meet  and  pro- 
vide for  constitutional  convention,  185, 
186;  elect  McKean  president;  action 
of,  186.  See  Conference. 

Convention,  Constitutional,  assembles ; 
opens  with  divine  service ;  took  upon 
itself  government  of  Colonv ;  Frank- 
lin president  of,  187  ;  elect  Council  of 
Safety,  193 ;  to  frame  Constitution  of 
United  States ;  Dickinson  member  of, 
249;  to  frame  constitution  of '1790; 
Mifflin  president ;  Hiester  member  of, 
286  ;  to  ratify  Constitution  of  United 
States,  301 ;  "Hiester  member  of,  339  ; 
National,  meets  at  Harrisburg,  349; 
Democratic  national,  443. 

Conway,  General  Thomas,  forms  cabal 
against  Washington,  283. 

Cook,  Arthur,  appointed  on  commission 
of  five,  103. 

Cornells,  Cape,  named  by  Mey,  19. 

Cork,  Penn  at,  on  business,  71 ;  Penn  im- 
prisoned in  city  of,  72. 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  pursues  Washington  ; 
restrained  by  Howe,  146;  in  Philadel- 
phia, 204 ;  army  under,  surrenders, 
248,  264. 

Coudray,  Du,  engineer,  examines  and 
reports  on  defences  of  Philadelphia, 
200. 

Council,  minutes,  22,  23. 

Council,  the  Provincial,  met  by  Penn, 
at  Philadelphia;  number  of  dele- 
gates to,  reduced,  87 ;  law  relating 
to  marriages  of  negroes,  passed  by, 
95 ;  executive  authority  committed 
to,  10.r>,  117,  136,  146;  Thomas  Lloyd 
president  of;  three  forms  of  exec- 
utive power  left  to  the  decision 
of,  by  Penn ;  members  from  terri- 
tories withdrawn  from,  105 ;  deputa- 
tion of,  sent  to  induce  seceding  mem- 
bers to  return,  105-6 ;  badger  Penn, 
111;  met  by  Markham,  114;  to  con- 
sist of  twelve  members;  Edward 
Shippen  president  of,  117 ;  Governor 
Gookin  testifies  before,  to  fits  of  de- 
rangement, 121 ;  in  opposition  to  Gov. 


Keith,  129;  had  only  advisory  power; 
Gov.  Keith  acts  independent  of;  state- 
ment of  Logan  on  minutes  of;  Keith 
reproved  by  Hannah  Penn,  for  not  con- 
sulting, 130;  Logan  president  of ;  ad- 
vises with  the  assembly ;  forbiddei 
executive  power  in  legislation,  136 ; 
petition  removal  of  Gookin,  124 ;  John 
Penn,  son  of  Richard,  made  president 
of,  153 ;  government  in  hands  of; 
James  Hamilton  president  of;  forbid- 
den te  approve  Acts  of  Assembly,  177 ; 
Richard  Penn  member  of,  179. 

Council,  the  Lords  of,  Penn  brought 
before ;  Penn's  reply  to ;  Penn  again 
brought  before,  and  reply  to.  92 ;  Pro- 
prietors before,  165 ;  Franklin  before, 
262,  263. 

Council  of  'Five,  appointed  by  Penn ; 
Thomas  Lloyd  president  of,  101 ;  let- 
ter of  Penn  to;  Nicholas  Moore  at 
head  of,  102 ;  Penn  dissatisfied  with ; 
relieved  by  five  commissioners,  103. 

Council  of  Safety,  new  constitution  in- 
trusted to,  183;  assumes  government 
of  Colony  ;  Thomas  Rittenhouse  chair- 
man of;  supersedes  Proprietary  gov- 
ernment, 193;  formal  organization  of; 
Wharton  elected  president,  194;  issues 
an  order  to  people  of  Philadelphia, 
196 ;  stirring  address  of,  197. 

Council  of  Censors,  Bryan  member  of, 
215. 

Council,  Supreme  Executive,  The,  ap- 
points Board  of  War  and  Navy ;  ap- 
propriates money ;  Wharton  elected 
president  of,  200 ;  title  of  president 
of,  199 ;  proclamations  of,  200,  201 ; 
adjourns  to  Lancaster,  204 ;  returns  to 
Philadelphia;  Bryan  acting  president 
of,  211;  Reed  elected  president  of, 
222 ;  Reed  writes  to,  228 ;  Moore  pres- 
ident of,  231 ;  Dickinson  president  of, 
248;  Franklin  president  of,  251,  265; 
Mifflin  president  of,  273,  286. 

Councillors,  under  Markham,  attestation 
of,  66. 

Court-house,  at  New  Castle,  82 ;  election 
declared  from,  in  Philadelphia,  199. 

Court,  at  Old  Bailey,  Penn  tried  before ; 
Penn  fined  by,  74;  of  Common 
Pleas,  jurymen,  in  trial  of  Penn, 
brought  their  case;  peacemakers  ap- 
pointed at  county,  87. 

Court,  of  King's  Bench,  Penn  brought 
before,  and  discharged  by,  93 ;  Penn 
cleared  before,  109. 

Court,  Supreme,  at  New  Castle,  commis- 
sion of  Governor  Gookin  refused  pub- 
lication in,  124 ;  a  judge  of,  kicked  by 
Gookin,  124. 

Craig,  General,  witness  to  bravery  of 
Mifflin,  276. 


INDEX. 


527 


Creeks,  Big  Timber,  21 ;  Little  Timber, 
21 ;  Lewes  Settlement  made  on,  23  ; 
Christina,  26,  30;  Salem,  31,  32,  33; 
Conestoga,  Indians  on,  33 ;  Neshaminy, 
lands  near,  deeds  signed  for ;  Baker's, 
88 ;  French,  Washington  ascends,  149 ; 
Bald  Eagle,  451. 

Cresap,  Michael,  Capt.,  with  Daniel 
Greathouse,  murder  Indians,  180. 

Cresson,  Solomon,  beaten  by  Governor 
Evans,  121. 

Crittenden,  [John  Jordan,]  compromise 
measure  of,  423,  429,  432. 

Crispin,  William,  commissioner;  ap- 
pointed surveyor-general ;  died,  67. 

Croghan,  Major,  brave  defence  of  Fort 
Stephenson,  314. 

Cromwell,  plans  recovery  of  Dutch  Ter- 
ritory, 50.  • 

Crown  Point,  expedition  against,  suc- 
cessful, 158,  163,  1IJ4. 

Crown,  the  British,  grants  made  by  ; 
people  at  Manhattan  and,  51. 

Cumberland,  in  Maryland,  troops  organ- 
ize at,  to  quell  Whiskey  Insurrection, 
287. 

Cumberland  County,  Franklin  procures 
wagons  and  horses  in,  for  Braddock, 
156 ;  savages  advance  through,  158 ; 
Indian  murders  in,  162;  outpost  of 
civilization,  167 ;  Boquet  collects  force 
in,  168;  Ritner  removes  to,  361,  374; 
teachers'  institutes  in,  366. 

Cumberland  Valley,  323;  Scotch-Irish 
settle  in,  324. 

Cunningham,  Thomas  S.,  372. 

Curtin,  Andrew  Gregg,  birth  of,  450 ;  edu- 
cation of;  studies  law;  admitted  to  the 
bar,  and  practises  law,  451 ;  success  in 
criminal  causes ;  advocate  of  Whig 
principles  ;  labors  for  Harrison ;  can- 
vasses the  State  for  Clay  and  for  Scott ; 
chairman  of  State  Central  Committee ; 
appointed  Secretary  of  the  Common- 
wealth ;  ex-officio  Superintendent  of 
common  schools,  452 ;  makes  common 
sphool  education  efficient;  favors 
county  superintendency,  453  ;  laments 
defect  of  well-qualified  teachers;  re- 
commends system  of  Normal  Schools, 
454 ;  resumes  practice  of  the  law,  455; 
elected  Governor,  456  ;  inaugural  ad- 
dress of,  quoted,  457-459  ;  message  of, 
quoted;  called  upon  for  troops,  459; 
receives  order  from  Secretary  of  War 
that  the  troops  are  not  needed  :  directs 
troops  to  preserve  their  organization; 
asks  authority  from  the  Legislature  to 
organize  a  Reserve  Corps ;  receives 
pressing  appeal  to  forward  the  Re- 
serves to  the  capital,  460 ;  his  prompt- 
ness throughout  the  war  in  furnishing 
troops ;  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of 


the  soldiers,  461 ;  founds  the  Soldiers' 
Orphans'  Schools  ;  tribute  to,  462 ;  his 
health  fails;  is  tendered,  by  Lincoln,  a 
foreign  mission ;  re-elected  Governor ; 
sails  for  Cuba  for  benefit  of  health, 
463  ;  is  tendered,  by  Johnson,  a  foreign 
mission,  but  declines;  prominent  can- 
didate for  United  States  Senate ;  is  sup- 
ported for  Vice- President ;  appointed 
Minister  to  Russia;  has  a  public  recep- 
tion at  Independence  Hall ;  banqueted 
at  the  Academy  of  Music,  Philadel- 
ph  ia ;  sails  for  Russia  ;  supported  by  a 
number  of  delegates  for  Vice-President 
in  Liberal  Republican  Convention  at 
Cincinnati,  and  in  the  regular  Repub- 
lican Convention  at  Philadelphia;  in- 
clines to  conservatism  in  government ; 
personal  appearance  of,  464 ;  marries ; 
returns  to  this  country  from  Russia, 465. 

Curtin,  Roland,  father  of  the  Governor, 
450. 

Curtis,  John,  Justice  of  the  Peace, 
charged  with  use  of  treasonable  lan- 
guage, 103. 

Dallas,  Alexander  J.,  letter  of  McKean 
to,  294. 

Darrah,  Lydia,  conveys  intelligence  to 
Washington,  206. 

Dartmouth,  Lord,  Colonial  Secretary ; 
corresponds  with  Joseph  Reed,  217. 

Dauphin  County,  Court  House  in,  occu- 
pied by  the  Legislature,  330 ;  Shulze 
merchant  in,  344. 

Davy,  Sir  Humphrey,  tribute  of,  to 
Franklin,  259. 

Davenport,  Abraham,  poet,  song  of,  351. 

Deal,  Penn  embarks  at,  for  America,  82. 

Deane,  Silas,  ambassador  to  France,  207. 

Dean,  Lieutenant- Colonel,  296. 

Declaration  of  Independence,  composi- 
tion of  the,  246,  247,  264,  296;  opposed 
by  Dickinson ;  adopted,  246,  295. 

De  Bert,  Dennis,  agent  of  Massachusetts 
Bay  at  Court  of  St.  James ;  father  of 
Esther,  217. 

De  Bert,  Esther,  marries  Joseph  Reed, 
217 ;  death  of,  229. 

D'Estang,  commander  of  French  fleet ; 
arrives  at  mouth  of  Delaware,  207 ; 
sails  for  Rhode  Island ;  followed  by 
British  fleet ;  fleet  shattered  in  a  storm  ; 
sailed  to  Boston  for  repairs ;  departs  for 
the  West  Indies,  212 ;  aids  American 
cause,  248. 

Delany,  Colonel,  283. 

Delaware  Bay,  discovered  and  named ; 
known  as  Newport  May,  and  Godyn's 
Bay,  18;  land  at  mouth  of,  purchased 
from  the  natives,  23 ;  vessels  arrive  in, 
30. 

Delaware    River,   headwaters    of;    first 


528 


INDEX. 


Known  as  South  River ;  named  by 
the  English;  called  by  the  Indians, 
Pautaxas,  Mariskitton,  and  Mak^nsh- 
kisken  ;  by  the  Dutch,  Zuyt  or  South, 
Nassau,  Prince  Hendrick,  and  Charles ; 
by  the  Swedes,  New  Swedeland  Stream, 
Is  ;  first  settlement  on,  22 ;  trade  from; 
ship  Walrus  arrives  in,  23;  Dutch! 
settlements  on,  26,  27 ;  patroons  sell 
lands  upon ;  party  from  Connecticut 
sail  to,  28  ;  fappegoya  upon ;  western 
bank  of,  claimed  by  the  Swedes,  33 ; 
Hudde  retained  upon ;  Stuvvesant  sails 
to,  34 ;  land  on  south  bank  of,  bought 
by  city  of  Amsterdam,  44 ;  distress  of 
colonists  on  the,  47 ;  territory  on, 
claimed  by  Virginia  and  Maryland, 
50 ;  Sir  Robert  Carr  dispatched  to,  52 ; 
visited  by  Nicholls;  settlements  on 
east  side  of;  regulations  for  govern- 
ment on ;  English  authority  on  the, 
53;  deputies  from,  go  to  New  York 
to  give  adhesion  to  Dutch  power; 
three  courts  established  on  the ;  oath 
of  allegiance  administered  to  inhabi- 
tants on,  57 ;  authority  of  the  Dutch 
on,  ceases,  58 ;  families  settle  on  east 
side  of,  59;  Quakers  settle  along 
western  shore;  Penn's  application 
for  land  west  of,  60;  territory  west 
from,  61 ;  letter  of  Penn  to  colonists 
on,  65 ;  Penn  proceeds  up,  on  open  boat, 
82 ;  French  privateers  run  into  the, 
114;  a  resort  for  privateers  of  enemy, 
144,  146 ;  batteries  planted  on  shore  of, 
.  144 ;  line  efforts  erected  from,  to  Mary- 
land line,  158. 

Delaware,  State  of,  northern  limits,  30; 
territories  formed,  82,  118;  Dickinson 
elected  to  Congress  from,  247  ;  Dickin- 
son member  of  Assembly,  and  Presi- 
dent of,  248 ;  Dickinson  delegate  from, 
to  frame  Constitution,  249 ;  originally 
part  of  Pennsylvania,  289  ;  establishes 
loan  office,  291 ;  constitution  adopted, 
297  ;  McKean  president  of,  298. 

De  La  War,  Lord,  visits  Delaware  River, 
18 ;  and  discovery  of,  27. 

Denny,  William,  commissioned  Deputy 
Governor;  cordial  reception  of;  in- 
structions of;  objects  to  money  bill; 
messages  of,  160;  rejects  bill  levying 
one  hundred  thousand  pounds  upon 
all  estates,  161 ;  presented  with  five 
hundred  pounds ;  disregards  instruc- 
tions ;  signs  bill  taxing  Proprietary 
estates;  recalled;  administration  of, 
165. 

De   Ruyter,  with    Tromp,  leads  Dutch  j 
fleet  agaiiut  the  English ;   fights  three  j 
battles,  and  defeats  his  adversaries,  56. 
.Detroit,  French  force  from,  routed,  163; 
Indians  attack,  167. 


De  Tries,  David  Pieterzen  joins  Goodyn 
and  Bloemart  on  the  Delaware ;  two 
vessels  sent  by,  to  the  Delaware,  23 ; 
and  whale-fishery  ;  commaudt-r  of  ves- 
sels, and  patroon ;  sets  sail ;  reaches 
mouth  of  the  Delaware,  24;  pacific 
policy ;  concludes  treaty ;  sails  up  the 
river;  sails  for  Virginia,  26 ;  and  whale- 
fishery  ;  sails  for  Holland,  27  ;  opinion 
of;  Printz,  35,  36. 

Dickinson,  John,  opposes  the  King's  as- 
suming direct  control  of  the  Province, 
171,  235;  appointed  to  attend  General 
Congress,  173,  235 ;  writes  Farrier's 
Letters,  175,  237  ;  presides  at  monster 
meeting  in  Philadelphia,  182,  239; 
draws  instructions  to  the  Assembly, 
182,  240;  delegate  to  Congress,  183, 
242;  opposes  Independence;  absent, 
when  vote  on  Declaration  was  taken ; 
omitted  as  delegate,  187;  birth  of; 
education ;  studies  law ;  visits  Eng- 
land; practises  law  in  Philadelphia; 
member  of  Assembly,  234 ;  essays  of, 
236 ;  eulogies  tendered  to,  by  people 
of  Boston ;  Society  of  Fort  St.  David 
present  address  to,  238 ;  drafts  petition 
to  the  King,  242,  243 ;  draws  up  ad- 
dress to  people  of  Canada,  243  ;  draws 
up  second  address  to  the  King,  244; 
composes  a  manifesto,  245 ;  opposes 
the  Declaration  of  Independence;  ab- 
sent when  vote  was  taken  on  the 
Declaration,  246 ;  volunteers  as  a  pri- 
vate ;  made  brigadier-general ;  rules 
of  life ;  elected  to  Congress  from  Del- 
aware, 247 ;  member  of  Assembly  and 
president  of  Delaware;  elected  presi- 
dent of  Pennsylvania ;  endows  college 
at  Carlisle,  248 ;  delegate  from  Dela- 
ware to  frame  constitution ;  writes  nine 
letters,  signed  Fabius  ;  delegate  to  con- 
vention, to  revise  Constitution  of  Del- 
aware ;  writes  second  series  of  letters, 
signed  Fabius ;  visited  by  John 
Adams,  249 ;  library  of;  described  by 
Adams;  marriage;  death,  250;  acting 
Governor  of  two  States,  289 ;  letter  of 
McKean  to,  302. 

Dickinson,  Samuel,  father  of  President ; 
removes  from  Maryland  to  Delaware ; 
Judge  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  234. 

Dickinson  College,  451. 

Dinwiddie,  Governor  of  Virginia,  sends 
Washington  to  confer  with  the  French, 
149 ;  forward  in  recruiting,  153. 

Dixon,  Jeremiah,  to  run  boundary  lines  ; 
name,  world-renowned,  67. 

Dixon,  W.  Hepworth,  his  Biography  of 
Penn,  quoted,  91. 

Dock,  Susan,  mother  of  Governor  Bigler, 
413. 

Donegal,  settlement  of,  169. 


INDEX. 


529 


Dongan,  Tho.,  signs  certificate,  22. 

Donop,  Count,  attacks  Fort  Mercer; 
mortally  wounded,  205. 

Dorchester  Heights,  fortified  by  Ameri- 
cans, 195. 

Dorsey,  the  Messrs.,  381. 

Downingtown,  militia  stationed  at,  201 ; 
in  Chester  county,  433. 

Douglass,  Samuel,  Attorney-General, 
405. 

Douglass,  Judge,  421,  422. 

Drake,  Wm.  E.,  440. 

Duch6,  Colonel,  regiment  of,  escorts  Gov- 
ernor Denny,  160. 

Duke  of  York,  the,  grant  of  territory  to ; 
Nicholls,  groom  of  the  bed  -  cham- 
ber to,  51 ;  grant  of,  to  Berkley  and 
Carteret,  53 ;  laws  of,  53,  67 ;  English 
power  surrendered  to,  56 ;  grant  of,  re- 
newed by  Charles,  58 ;  last  court  held 
under,  67  ;  has  Peiin  discharged  from 
Tower,  74;  assumes  title  of  James  II., 
74 ;  Admiral  Penn's  dying  request  to, 
75 ;  yearly  rents  to  be  paid  by  Penn  to, 
82;  duty  paid  to,  by  Penn,  83;  his 
friendship  for  Penn;  succeeds  to  the 
tbrone,  89. 

Dunmore,  Governor  of  Virginia,  lays 
claim  to  territory  in  Western  Penn- 
sylvania; settlers  claim  protection  of; 
refuses  to  hear  messengers  from  Gov- 
ernor Penn,  180. 

Dunkirk,  privateers  of,  capture  vessel, 
23. 

Du  Quesne,  Fort,  French  build,  149. 

Du  Quesne,  Marquis,  Governor  of  Can- 
ada; remonstrates  with  Governors  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  150; 
fort  named  after,  153;  operations 
against,  102. 

Dutch,  the,  sought  the  Hudson,  17  ; 
right  of,  to  the  Delaware,  18 ;  posses- 
sions in  New  World  called  New  Neth- 
erlands, 19;  West  India  Company  in- 
corporated, 20  ;  object  of  colonization, 
21 ;  settlements  on  the  Delaware,  26 : 
Company,  territory  of,  30 ;  at  mouth 
of  the  Schuylkill;  opposition  to  the 
Swedes,  34;  Rysingh  to  employ  mild 
measures  against  the,  37 ;  increase 
at  Manhattan,  3!) ;  Governor  sails  to 
the  Delaware,  40;  troops,  inhuman 
conduct  of,  at  Fort  Christina;  Swedes 
and  Finns  take  oath  of  allegiance  to, 
41 ;  in  full  possession  on  the  Delaware, 
42 ;  conflict  between,  and  English  rule ; 
evils  of  government  of  the,  50 ;  pos- 
sessions of,  51 ;  rule  of  the,  52 ;  Eng- 
lish fleet  descends  upon  coast  of  the ; 
fleet  led  by  De  Ruyter  and  Tromp; 
great  naval  battle  on  waters  of; 
squadron  dispatched  to  recover  New 
Netherlands,  56 ;  authority  of,  on  the 
34 


Delaware   ceases,  58 ;  Admiral  Penn 
has  engagements  with,  60. 
Duyckinck,  Evert  A.,  the  author,  emoted, 
266. 

Easton,  conference  with  Indians  at,  162  ; 
books  and  State  papers  removed  to 
204 ;  Wolf,  postmaster  of,  350. 

East  India  Tea  Company,  excitement 
against;  vessels  of,  turn  back  to  Eng- 
land ;  vessels  of,  sent  to  Boston,  board- 
ed, and  tea  poured  into«the  water,  181. 

Eckley,  John,  one  of  five  commissioners, 
103. 

Eden,  William,  British  commissioner, 
225. 

Edinboro',  Erie  County,  normal  school 
at,  366. 

Edmundson,  William,  the  preacher, 
holds  meetings,  59. 

Education,  McKean  advocates,  304;  rudi- 
ments of,  received  by  Hiester,  334 ; 
message  of  Shulze  on,  348;  message 
of  Eitner  on,  367. 

Elder,  Rev.  John,  (Colonel,)  requests 
Governor  to  remove  Indians  from  Con- 
estoga ;  rangers  of,  massacre  Indians, 
169;  Thomas,  393. 

Electoral  College,  Shulze  President  of, 
349. 

Electricity,  Franklin's  discoveries  in, 
259,  261. 

England,  peace  between  Holland  and, 
40 ;  fleet  of,  descends  upon  the  Dutch 
coast,  56 ;  peace  between  Netherlands 
and,  concluded,  58;  three  ships  ar- 
rive from ;  seal  of,  60 ;  Penn's  de- 
scription of  Province  published  in,  67  ; 
laws  of,  67,  71 ;  civil  liberty  in,  75  ; 
code  of  laws  prepared  in ;  frame  of 
government  agreed  upon  in,  80 ;  war 
between  Spain  and,  declared,  166 ; 
treaty  of  peace  between,  and  United 
States,  317. 

English,  first  in  New  Netherlands,  28 ; 
parties  of,  attempt  to  gain  a  foothold 
upon  the  Delaware,  31 ;  party  of,  from 
Connecticut,  settle  at  mouth  of  Salem 
Creek,  31 ;  Van  Ilpendani  sent  to  drive 
the,  from  Delaware,  33 ;  make  Rysingh 
offers  about  a  wife,  39 ;  encroach  upon 
the  Indians,  167  ;  settlements  in  Mury- 
larid  ;  claim  discovery  of  territory  on 
the  Delaware ;  submission  of  settlers 
to,  demanded,  47  ;  claim  to  territory  oc- 
cupied by  the  Dutch,  50 ;  throne,  as- 
cended by  Charles  II.;  commissioners 
issue  proclamation,  51 ;  New  Nether- 
lands passes  under  rule  of  the,  52 ; 
laws  in  Colonies,  digested  by  Nicholls, 
53 ;  held  at  bay  by  De  Ruyter,  and 
defeated,  56 ;  soldiery  sent  to  Hol- 
land, 56;  New  Netherlands  restored 


630 


INDEX. 


to  the,  5?;  law  essentials;  ships  from, 
arrive  with  commissioners,  67 ;  law, 
offences  capitally  punished  by,  81 ; 
law  of  primogeniture  abrogated  in 
Pennsylvania,  86;  James  II.  promises 
protection  to  Church  of,  90;  people 
lose  confidence  in  King  James,  109 ; 
tne  French  at  war  with,  111 ;  traders 
seized  by  the  French,  150 ;  Shawanese 
and  Delaware  Indians  raise  the  hatchet 
against,  1 58  ;  capture  Quebec,  164 ; 
strongholds  In  Canada  submit  to  rule 
of,  lliti ;  government,  order  a  confer- 
ence at  Albany  ;  Ministry  order  Gene- 
ral Congress  of  the  Colonies  in  Ameri- 
ca, 154. 

Erie,  city  of,  442. 

Erie  County,  normal  school  in,  366. 

Europeans,  three,  wander  up  Mohawk 
Valley,  17  ;  trade  to,  33. 

Evans,  John,  succeeds  Andrew  Hamilton 
as  Deputy  Governor,  118 ;  character 
of,  118,  121;  arrives  in  the  Colony; 
increases  number  of  Council ;  first  act 
of,  an  effort  to  unite  the  Territories  and 
Province ;  withholds  sanction  from 
bill,  118;  party  opposed  to;  dismisses 
the  Assembly ;  had  little  respect  for 
the  Quakers;  makes  call  for  militia  by 
proclamation,  119;  despicable  con- 
duct of,  to  test  the  Quaker  faith  ;  ruse 
to  frighten  the  Quakers  futile ;  wins 
contempt  of  the  people ;  builds  fort  at 
New  Castle,  and  compels  vessels  to 
bring  to,  before  it,  120;  relieved  by 
Charles  Gookin ;  misbehaves  to  Indian 
women;  beats  Cresson,  121;  charges 
preferred  against;  Council  charged 
with  being  accessory  to  misdeeds  of; 
offences  of,  cited,  122 ;  odious  to  the 
people,  125;  misjudges  the  Quaker 
faith,  1-43. 

Evertson,  Commodore,  with  Benckes,  in 
command  of  squadron.  56. 

Ewing,  Dr.,  Provost  of  University  of 
Pennsylvania;  discourse  of,  on  death 
of  George  Bryan,  215. 

Fabius,  letters  of,  249. 

Fair  Hill,  near  Philadelphia ;  county- 
seat  of  Dickinson,  249. 

Farmer's  Letters,  175,  237,  238 

Farrandsville,  terminus  of  West  Branch 
Canal,  436. 

Fauche,  the  Abbe,  delivers  eulogy  on 
Franklin,  268. 

Federal  party,  formation  of;  principles 
of,  343;  dissolution  of,  343,  346;  news- 
papers of,  join  in  support  of  new  party, 
346. 

Federalists,  organ  of,  325 ;  support  Jo- 
seph Hiestef  for  Governor,  32$,  329, 
339;  support  Andrew  Gregg  for  Gov- 
ernor, 344. 


Fenwick,  John,  arrives,  59 ;  buys  land 
in  trust  for  Byllinge,  from  Berkley  and 
Carteret,  60. 

Ferguson,  Mrs.,  bears  proposition  from 
Johnstone  to  Joseph  Keed,  225,  226. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  President,  374. 

Findlay,  William,  fourth  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania;  birth  of;  lineage,  323; 
thirst  for  knowledge;  instruction  of, 
324 ;  admirer  of  Jefferson  ;  Inspector 
of  Militia;  Major:  elected  to  the  As- 
sembly; proposes  moving  of  the  capi- 
tal to  Harrisburg,  325 ;  chairman  of 
committees,  326,  327 ;  votes  against 
impeachment  of  judges  of  Supreme 
Court,  326 ;  provisions  ofiered  by,  to 
revise  judiciary  system ;  elected  State 
Treasurer,  327 ;  substitutes  current  for 
uncurrent  money  received  by  chief 
clerk;  Legislature  refunds  money  to; 
elected  Governor;  resigns  as  State 
Treasurer;  inquiry  into  official  conduct 
of,  as  Treasurer,  328;  Legislature  re- 
ports official  conduct  of,  as  Treasurer, 
faithful ;  official  conduct  as  Governor 
inquired  into;  re-nominated  for  Gov- 
ernor, 329 ;  defeated  by  Hiester ;  elected 
to  United  States  Senate ;  appointed 
Treasurer  of  Mint  at  Philadelphia; 
resigns ;  death  of;  lays  corner-stone 
of  the  Capitol,  330;  appoints  Shulze 
Surveyor  General,  345. 

Findlay,  Samuel,  323;  Colonel  John; 
General  James,  330. 

Finns,  company  of,  sail  with  Minuit,  30; 
of  company's  colony,  44. 

Finney,  David,  of  New  Castle;  McKean 
studies  law  with,  289. 

Fishbourne,  William,  treasurer,  a  de- 
faulter; forever  disqualified  from  hold- 
ing office,  134. 

Fishbourne,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam ;  marries  Thomas  Wharton,  Jr., 
208. 

Five  Nations,  the  Minquas,  a  tribe  of,  33 ; 
chiefs  hold  conference,  128;  treaty  con- 
cluded with,  133. 

Flag,  the  Union,  first  unfurled  ;  descrip- 
tion of,  194. 

Florida,  given  up  to  the  English,  167. 

Fletcher,  Governor,  commissioned  to  as- 
sume jurisdiction  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Territories,  94,  110;  writes  to  Governor 
.Lloyd ;  visits  the  Province  in  great 
pomp ;  summons  the  Assembly ;  Penn 
writes  to,  110;  appoints  Markham 
Deputy  Governor;  dissolves  the  As- 
sembly ;  departs  for  his  own  colony  ; 
occasionally  visits  Delaware  Colony; 
message  of,  to  the  Assembly,  111; 
reasons  for  transferring  government  of 
Penn's  colony  to,  113,  114;  declaration 
of,  to  Assembly,  as  to  constitution,  118. 


INDEX. 


531 


Fort  Amsterdam,  party  of  English  settle 
near,  28. 

Fort  Casimir,  erected  ;  renders  Fort  El- 
sinbcrg  useless,  35;  captured  by  Ry- 
singh,  37 ;  capture  of,  fatal  to  the 
Swedes,  40;  under  command  of  Swen 
Sc-hute,  40,  41 ;  besieged  by  Stuyve- 
sai.it;  surrender  of ;  inhuman  conduct 
of  Dutch  troops  at,  41. 

Fort  Christina,  named,  30;  lands  south 
of,  acquired  by  Stuyvesant,  35. 

Fort  Du  Quesne,  named,  153 ;  captured 
by  General  Forbes ;  garrisoned  by 
Pennsylvanians,  163. 

Fort  Elsinborg,  erected,  33 ;  rendered 
useless,  35  ;  seized  by  Stuyvesant,  40. 

Fort  Le  Bo2uf,  the  French  establish ; 
headquarters  of  French  commander  at  ; 
Washington  reaches;  on  the  site  of 
Waterford,  Erie  County,  149 ;  troops 
move  from,  to  Fort  Du  Quesne,  153; 
captured  by  Indians,  167. 

Fort  McHenry,  bombarded,  316. 

Fort  Mifflin,  bombardment  of,  205 ; 
evacuated,  206. 

Fort  Mercer,  attacked,  205. 

Fort  Nassau,  Indians  occupants  of,  26 ; 
Dutch  garrison  in,  attacked,  28  ;  Van 
Ilpendam  at,  33;  abandoned,  35. 

Fort  Necessity,  Washington  retires  to, 
and  fortifies,  but  yields  to  the  French, 
and  marches  out  with  the  honors  of 
war,  154. 

Fort  Niagara,  near  the  Falls;  surren- 
dered to  the  English,  163 ;  attacked 
by  Indians,  117. 

Fort  Oplandt,  24. 

Fort  Island,  mud  fort  upon,  205. 

Folger,  Abiah,  mother  of  Franklin ; 
Peter,  252. 

Fontanoy,  battle  of;  head  of  Johnston 
family  killed  at,  403. 

Forbes,  General,  under  Abercrombie, 
162  ;  seizes  Fort  Du  Quesne,  163. 

Forney,  John  W.,  his  sketch  of  Stevens, 
quoted,  364,  365. 

Forster,  W.  E.,  preface  to  Life  of  Penn, 
quoted,  91. 

Fortune,  the  vessel,  commanded  by  Mey, 
19. 

Foster,  Henry  D.,  456. 

Fox,  George,  founder  of  Society  of 
Friends ;  travels  through  Delaware 
County;  received  at  New  Castle  by 
Captain  Carr,  55;  visit  and  return 
home,  60. 

I  ox,  Mr.,  appointed  to  attend  General 
Congress  at  New  York,  173. 

Frankfort,  Chambers  at,  confirm  act,  30. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  elqcted  colonel,  but 
declines,  144;  is  clerk  and  member 
of  the  Assembly ;  answers  manifesto 
oi  F  "opi  ietors,  151 ;  delegate  to  first 


General  Congress ;  plan  of  government 
for  the  Colonies,  prepared  by,  154, 
260;  biographer  of,  quoted,  155;  sent 
to  meet  Braddock,  156,  258  ;  Postmas- 
ter-General, 156,  258 ;  commissioned  by 
Braddock  to  procure  transportation ; 
circulates  notices  through  counties  of 
Cumberland,  York,  and  Lancaster ; 
procures  wagons  and  horses,  156,  258; 
circulates  dialogue  to  encourage  en- 
listments, 158 ;  takes  command  on 
north-western  frontier,  and  erects  forts, 
159,  258;  returns  to  Philadelphia  and 
takes  seat  in  Assembly,  159  ;  regiment 
of,  escorts  Governor  Denny,  160;  snnt 
as  commissioner  to  England,  162,  2(iO ; 
arrives  in  London ;  lays  instructions 
before  Ministry;  involved  in  contro- 
versy with  Proprietors ;  two  associates 
sent  to  ;  presents  remonstrance  to  Pro- 
prietors, 164;  pamphlet  of,  entitled 
Historical  Review  of  Pennsylvania; 
appointed  agent  for  Massachusetts, 
Maryland,  and  Georgia,  165,  260; 
agreement  with  Proprietors  as  to  as- 
sessments ;  defeated  for  the  Assembly, 
171 ;  sent  as  agent  to  Court,  on  matter 
of  taxation  of  Colonies,  173;  advocates 
transfer  of  Colony  to  the  Crown,  173, 
235,  261;  before  committee  of  Pxrlia- 
ment,  174,  261,  262 ;  delegate  to  Con- 
gress; returns  from  London,  183,  263; 
on  committee  to  frame  Declaration, 
187,  264  ;  votes  for  Declaration  ;  pres- 
ident of  Constitutional  Convention, 
187;  Ambassador  to  France,  207,  262; 
birth  of,  251 ;  goes  to  school ;  learns 
printing,  252  ;  writes  anonymous  arti- 
cles ;  goes  to  New  York  and  Philadel- 
Ehia;  a  vegetarian,  253  ;  goes  to  Eug- 
md ;  deceived  by  Governor  Keith ; 
returns  to  Philadelphia ;  moral  con- 
victions of;  establishes  the  Junto,  254; 
his  skill  in  speaking  and  writing;  pur- 
chases the  Gazette;  publishes  pam- 
phlet on  paper  currency ;  issues  pro- 
posals for  a  public  library ;  commences 
publication  of  Poor  Richard's  Alma- 
nac, 255 ;  maxims  of,  256,  257  ;  chosen 
clerk  and  member  of  Assembly,  257 ; 
experiments  on  electricity ;  opposes 
Proprietary  claims,  259 ;  draws  plan 
for  an  academy,  260 ;  honorary  de- 
grees conferred  upon,  261 ;  travels  in 
Holland  and  Germany,  262 ;  before 
committee  of  Privy  Council,  262,  263; 
visits  Canada,  263 ;  negotiates  peace; 
his  final  return  home  ;  nattering  recep- 
tion, 264 ;  letter  of;  chosen  president 
of  Council ;  delegate  to  Constitutional 
Convention ;  moves  to  open  Conven- 
tion with  prayer,  205 ;  college  named 
after ;  lays  corner-stone  of  college  a'. 


532 


INDEX. 


Lancaster ;  retires  from  public  employ- 
ments, 266,  273 ;  death  of;  works  of, 
266  ;  anecdote  of;  tributes  to  memory 
of,  267.  268  ;  ode  to,  268,  269 :  on  In- 
dependence,  314. 

Franklin,  William,  Governor  of  New 
Jersey;  refuses  to  allow  Moravian  In- 
dians "to  remain  in  his  Colony,  170. 

Franklin,  Josias,  father  of  Benjamin, 
251. 

Franklin  County,  323,  325,  330. 

France,  war  declared  between  Great 
Britain  and,  144 ;  peace  secured  with 
Great  Britain  and,  147 ;  joins  Spain  in 
war  against  England,  166 ;  ambassador 
to  court  of,  264 ;  forms  alliance  with 
America,  207,  264 ;  revolution  in,  249 ; 
Franklin's  maxims  in,  257  ;  Monarch 
of,  thanks  Franklin,  260;  at  war  with 
England,  264 ;  honors  to  memory  of 
Franklin  in,  267.  m 

Freame,  Elizabeth,  mother  of  Grorernor 
Johnston ;  William,  403. 

Frederick,  Braddock  at,  156,  258. 

Freeport,  town  of,  418. 

Fremont,  John  C.,  nominated  for  Presi- 
dent, 375 ;  General,  477. 

I  rench,  The,  claim  country  on  the  Ohio, 
by  reason  of  discovery  by  La  Salle; 
make  effort  to  circumvent  Ohio  Com- 
pany ;  seize  English  traders ;  ordered 
away  by  Indians ;  mollify  savages  by 
presents,  150;  under  Contrecoeur  drive 
English  away  from  fort  at  confluence 
of  Alleghany  and  Monongahela,  and 
name  it  Fort  Du  Quesne;  party  of, 
under  Jumonville,  routed  by  Washing- 
ton, 153 ,  defeat  Washington  at  Fort 
Necessity,  154;  defeat  Braddock,  156, 
157  ;  expeditions  against,  in  Nova  Sco- 
tia, and  at  Crown  Point ;  incite  savages 
to  murderous  warfare,  158 ;  erect  Fort 
Ticonderoga ;  repulse  Abercrombie  at 
Ticonderoga;  routed  at  Frontignac; 
evacuate  Fort  Du  Quesne ;  force  for  the 
relief  of  Fort  Niagara  routed ;  garrisoii 
of  Fort  Niagara  surrender,  163;  retreat 
from  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point, 
163,  164;  efforts  to  recover  losses  un- 
successful ;  at  Montreal  surrender  to 
the  English,  166;  and  Indians  at  war 
with  the  English,  111;  privateers  run 
into  the  Delaware,  114;  Markham  is- 
sues proclamation  against  privateers 
of,  114,  115 ;  establish  trading  posts  on 
Alleghany  and  Ohio,  134,  146;  invite 
Indians  to  conference  at  Montreal ; 
said  by  the  Indians  to  be  friendly  to 
the  English  ;  Indians  promise  to  resist 
encroachments  of,  134 ;  endeavor  to 
connect  possessions  in  Canada  with 
those  on  tne  Mississippi ;  seduce  natives 
with  presents,  146 ;  Conrad  Weiser  sent 


to  learn  position  of  the,  147;  rfncioach 
upon  English  Colonies,  148;  build  forts 
at  Presque  Isle,  Le  Bceuf,  Venango, 
and  Du  Quesne;  bury  pieces  of  copper 
along  the  Ohio;  settlers  come  in  con- 
tact with;  Washington  sent  to  confer 
with  :  commandant  met  bv  Washing- 
ton, 149. 

Friends,  Society  of,  numbers  of,  arrive, 
59  ;  numbers  flee  from  persecution,  60 ; 
Penn  at  meetings  of,  72,  83 ;  mode  of 
address,  72;  Penn  arrested  at  meeting 
of,  74 ;  Penn  committed  to  prison  for 
preaching  at  meeting  of,  76 ;  and  In- 
dians, 78 ;  assist  Penn  in  framing  laws, 
80 ;  accompany  Penn  to  America,  82  ; 
address  King  James ;  prisoners  in 
England  and  Wales,  90 ;  certificates  of, 
as  to  Penn's  unity,  95 ;  action  of,  in 
monthly  meeting,  regarding  slaves 
and  Indians;  freed  from  slavery,  90: 
persecuted;  Lloyd  attached  to,  101; 
schism  in  church  of,  incited  by  Keith, 
107;  Keith  proclaims  himself  as  head 
of  true;  expel  Keith  ;  influence  of  Penn 
in,  puissant,  108 ;  attempt  of  Governor 
Evans  to  frighten  on  day  of  weekly 
meeting  of,  120;  character  of,  mis- 
taken by  Evans,  121,  143 ;  Keith  se- 
cures privileges  to,  130  deputation  of, 
protest  against  transfer  of  the  Lower 
Counties,  136 ;  Patrick,  father  of  James 
Logan,  joins,  138 ;  James  Logan  a 
member  of,  139 ;  triumphant  in  the 
elections  against  Governor  Thomas, 
144 ;  Governor  Thomas  appreciates, 
145 ;  oppose  defensive  war,  146 ;  dele- 
gates from,  at  Indian  conference  at 
Easton,  162 ;  favor  the  King  assuming 
control  of  Province,  171. 

Frontignac,  Count,  Governor  of  Canada, 
incites  Indians  against  the  English, 
111. 

Frontignac,  French  at,  routed,  163. 

Fuller,  William,  a  cheat,  etc.,  93 ;  ac- 
cuses Penn,  under  oath,  to  the  govern- 
ment, 93. 

Galloway,  Joseph,  speaker  of  Assembly  ; 
delegate  to  Congress,  183. 

Gates,  General,  in  command  at  Phila- 
delphia, 199;  defeats  Burgoyne  at 
Saratoga,  203  ;  president  Board  of  War, 
281 ;  cabal  to  place  at  head  of  army, 
283. 

Gazette,  Pennsylvania,  purchased  by 
Franklin,  255. 

Gazette,  United  States,  quoted,  334. 

Geary,  John  W.,  birth  of;  ancestry,  466 ; 
enters  college;  leaves  college  and 
teaches  school ;  re-enters  college  and 
graduates ;  enters  a  mercantile  house ; 
studies  civil  engineering ;  studies  law, 


INDEX. 


533 


467 ;  admitted  to  the  bar ;  adopts  the 
vocation  of  civil  engineering ;  goes  to 
Kentucky  to  survey  lines  of  public 
works  ;  noble  act  of;  appointed  assist- 
ant Superintendent  and  Engineer  of 
Portage  Eailroad ;  raises  a  company 
of  volunteers  ;  elected  Lieutenant-Col- 
onel of  Second  Pennsylvania  Regi- 
ment ;  joins  the  army  under  General 
Scott ;  his  first  experience  of  actual 
war,  468 ;  wounded ;  assigned  to  com- 
mand the  great  citadel ;  elected  Col- 
onel ;  marches  home ;  separates  with 
command  at  Pittsburg ;  appointed 
Postmaster  of  San  Francisco  and  Mail 
Agent  of  Pacific  Coast;  with  wife  and 
child  sails  for  the  Pacific  coast ;  arrives 
at  San  Francisco,  469 ;  chosen  first  Al- 
calde of  San  Francisco ;  appointed 
Judge  of  First  Instance  ;  is,  by  virtue 
of  his  office,  general  curator;  is  re- 
elected,  but  four  votes  being  cast 
against  him,  470 ;  elected  Mayo/- ;  de- 
clines re-election  ;  president  of  Board 
of  commissioners ;  chairman  of  Demo- 
cratic Territorial  Committee ;  is  instru- 
mental in  securing  free  State  clause 
in  the  Constitution  of  California,  471 ; 
returns  to  the  Atlantic  States ;  em- 
barks in  farming ;  tendered  the  Gov- 
ernorship of  Utah,  but  declines ;  holds 
interview  with  the  President,  472 ; 
commissioned  Governor  of  Kansas ; 
arrives  at  Fort  Leavenworth ;  makes 
speech  to  the  citizens,  473 ;  admin- 
isters the  government  impartially  ;  dis- 
patches to  the  Secretary  of  State  the 
condition  of  Kansas,  474 ;  forwards 
resignation  to  President  Buchanan, 
475 ;  raises  the  regiment  known  as  the 
28th  Pennsylvania ;  proceeds  to  Har- 
per's Ferry  ;  fights  battle  of  Bolivar ; 
wounded,  476 ;  captures  Leesburg ; 
promoted  to  Brigadier  General ;  as- 
signed to  command  of  a  brigade ; 
wounded  at  Cedar  Mountain ;  is  ordered 
home  for  treatment  of  wound,  477 ; 
promoted  to  command  the  Second 
Division,  Twelfth  Corps ;  is  wounded 
at  Chancellorsville;  takes  prominent 
part  in  battle  of  Gettysburg,  478,  479  ; 
goes  with  Division  to  the  Southwest, 
479 ;  fights  the  midnight  battle  of  Wau- 
hatchie ;  complimented  by  General 
Hooker;  with  Division  assaults  and 
captures  Lookout  Mountain,  480,  482  ; 
issues  complimentary  order  to  his 
troops;  engages  in  a  series  of  battles 
from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta;  marches 
with  Sherman  to  the  Sea,  483 ;  leads 
the  advance  upon  Savannah  ;  receives 
the  surrender  of  the  city ;  appointed 
Military  Governor  o  f  Savannah ;  citi- 


zens ask  his  retention ;  engages  in  sev- 
eral battles  in  the  Carolinas ;  at  grand 
review;  bids  farewell  to  his  "White 
Star  "  Division,  484 ;  elected  Governor  ; 
is  inaugurated ;  his  inaugural  address 
quoted,  485 ;  his  recommendations  to 
the  Legislature ;  is  re-elected,  486, 
487;  peculiar  features  of  his  administra- 
tion ;  description  of,  488 ;  marriage  of, 
489 ;  retires  from  office,  489 ;  death ,  490. 

Geary,  Richard,  father  of  John  W.,  466. 

Geary,  Captain  Edward  R.,  son  of  Gov- 
ernor ;  killed  at  battle  of  Wauhatchie, 
480. 

Genet,  French  Minister,  intemperate 
conduct  of,  287. 

Georgia,  Franklin  agent  of,  at  London, 
165. 

George  III.  succeeds  George  II. ;  grand- 
son of  George  II.,  166 ;  general  confer- 
ence declare  allegiance  to,  LS2 ;  first 
Congress  addresses,  183;  receives  ad- 
dress kindly,  184. 

Germany,  father  of  Governor  Wolf  na- 
tive of,  350. 

German,  emigrants  settle  in  Pennsylva- 
nia ;  Snyder,  the  first  Governor,  of  that 
natidnality,  308. 

Gibson,  James,  pleads  cause  of  Paxton 
Boys,  170. 

Ghent,  Belgium,  treaty  of,  317. 

Gloucester,  Mey  debarked  near,  and 
built  Fort  Nassau,  21. 

Godyn's  Bay,  Delaware  Bay  known  as,  18. 

Golden  Shark,  the  ship,  captured;  held 
by  Stuyvesant;  Van  EJswyck  captain 
of,  40. 

Goodyn,  Samuel,  purchases  tract  of  land ; 
purchase  confirmed  by  Minuit ;  occu- 
pies land  as  patroon ;  joined  by  De 
V ries  and  six  others,  23 ;  in  reference 
to  whale-fishery,  24. 

Gookin,  Colonel  Charles,  appointed  Dep- 
uty Governor;  of  grave  demeanor; 
subject  to  fits  of  derangement,  121 ; 
quarrels  of  Evans  entailed  upon  ;  de- 
clines to  proceed  against  Evans ;  so- 
licits Assembly  for  money,  122  ;  a  bach- 
elor; refuses  to  recognize  the  Assem- 
bly; drives  committee  from  his  door; 
removed  on  petition  of  Council ;  unrea- 
sonable conduct  of;  under  influence  ot 
brother-in-law ;  removed  justices  of 
New  Castle  County ;  kicks  a  judge, 
124;  succeeded  by  Keith;  odious  to 
the  people,  125. 

Gordon,  Patrick,  the  "  walking  pur- 
chase" completed  during  term  of, 
•88 ;  succeeds  Keith  ;  arrives ;  meets 
the  Assembly ;  first  address ;  policy 
of,  132;  punishes  offending  Indians; 
Indians  pleased  with  speech  of,  133; 
institutes  inquiries  into  affairs  of  treas- 


534 


IXDEX. 


ury  ;  Assembly.decide  power  of,  at  an 
end,  and  refuse  to  act  upon  ini's-u^c 
of;  receives  new  commission  from  the 
Proprietors,  134 ;  death  of;  excellent 
government  of  Colonv,  13(3. 

Gordon,  Thomas  F.,  thehistorian,  quoted, 
151,  161,  167,  168,  170,  172,  236. 

Goshenhoppen,  333. 

Gottenburg,  Printz  sails  from,  32. 

Grant,  President  U.  S.,  reinstates  Gov- 
ernor Pollock  as  Director  of  Hint, 
432 ;  appoints  Curtin  Minister  to  Rus- 
sia, 464 ;  reviews  General  Geary's  di- 
vision ;  commander-in-chief,  482  ;  en- 
counters Lee,  483. 

Grant,  Colonel,  defeats  Cherokee  Indi- 
ans, 166. 

Gray,  General,  attacks  Wayne  at  Paoli 
and  massacres  his  men,  203. 

Graydon,  Alexander,  memoirs  of,  quoted, 
237 

Griffin,  the  vessel,  30. 

Great  Britain,  war  between  Spain  and, 
declared,  142;  war  between  France 
and,  declared,  144 ;  peace  secured  be- 
tween France  and,  147;  resists  the 
French ;  Franklin's  plan  of  govern- 
ment disapproved  by  the  Ministry  of, 
155 ;  rejoicing  in,  over  defeat  of  the 
French,  164;  money  from,  voted  for 
defence ;  Nova  Scotia,  Canada,  Louisi- 
ana, and  Florida  given  np  to,  by  the 
French,  167  ;  address  of  first  Congress 
to,  183 ;  peace  between,  and  the  United 
States,  and  treaty  with,  264 ;  acts  of, 
leading  to  the  war  of  1812,  313;  war 
declared  against,  314. 

Greathouse,  Daniel,  with  Capt.  Michael 
Cresap,  murder  Indians,  180. 

Great  Island,  Indian  town  on,  destroyed, 
168. 

Great  Meadows,  Washington  routs  party 
of  French  near;  Fort  Necessity  at; 
Washington  attacked  in,  by  the  French 
at,  and  compelled  to  yield,  154. 

Greene,  Colonel,  [General,]  at  Fort  Mer- 
cer, 205;  goes  to  Rhode  Island,  212; 
succeeds  Mifflin  as  quarter-master-gen- 
eral, 281. 

Greensburg,  Governor  Johnston,  born  at, 
404. 

Greenway,  master  of  ship  Welcome,  82. 

Gregg,  Andrew,  supported  by  Indepen- 
dent Republicans  and  Federalists  as 
candidate  for  Governor,  343;  offices 
held  by,  452. 

Griffith,  the  ship,  arrives  on  the  Dela- 
ware, 59. 

Guinea,  the  frigate,  with  four  other  ves- 
sels, sails  to  America,  51. 

Gustavns  Adolphus,  Kingof  Sweden;  and 
Protestant  religion  ;  mortally  wounded; 
commended  colonization,  29. 


Haige,  William,  commissioner,  arrives,  C7. 

Halifax,  General  Howe  sails  for,  from 
Boston,  195 ;  Howe  goes  from,  to  New 
York,  196. 

Halkett,  Sir  Peter,  second  in  command 
at  Braddock's  defeat ;  killed,  157. 

Hamilton,  James,  son  of  Andrew ;  ar- 
rives from  England;  commissioned 
Lieutenant  Governor ;  removes  griev- 
ances of  the  Indians  west  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna,  148 ;  Governor  of  Canada 
remonstrates  with  ;  urges  measures  for 
defence  along  the  frontier,  150;  forbid- 
den by  Proprietors  to  approve  money- 
bill  unless  interest  at  their  disposal ; 
refuses  assent  to  money-bill,  152 ;  use- 
fulness impaired ;  urges  the  Assembly 
to  vote  money  for  defence  against  the 
French,  153  ;  convenes  the  Assembly; 
commissions  delegates  to  General 
Congress,  154 ;  resigns,  and  reasons 
for;  relieved  by  Robert  Hunter  Mor- 
ris, .155;  again  made  Deputy  Gover- 
nor; convenes  Assembly,  166;  super- 
seded by  John  Penn,  169 ;  President 
of  Council ;  born  in  Philadelphia;  pos- 
sessed of  large  landed  estate;  adminis- 
tration of;  never  married ;  died  in 
New  York ;  age  of,  177. 

Hamilton,  Andrew,  Speaker  of  Assembly, 
141,  148;  takes  leave  of  Assembly; 
valedictory  address  of,  141,  142;  ap- 
pointed Lieutenant  Governor,  98,  116; 
opposition  to,  in  Parliament,  116;  ap- 
pointment of,  receives  royal  confirma- 
tion ;  organizes  military  force ;  death 
of,  117. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  allied  with  Fede- 
ral party,  343. 

Hancock,  General,  479. 

Hanson,  John,  President  of  Congress, 
299. 

Harlem,  Washington  driven  from,  196. 

Harper,  John,  412. 

Harper's  Ferry,  John  Brown  raid  on; 
battle  at,  476. 

Harris  Ferry,  Indians,  thirty  miles  above, 
158. 

Harris,  John,  requests  Governor  to  re- 
move Indians  from  Conestoga,  169. 

Harris,  Reports  of,  quoted,  386. 

Harrisburg,  proposition  to  move  capital 
to,  325 ;  visitors  to,  entertained  by 
Governor,  331;  national  convention 
meets  in,  349  ;  Porter  erects  anthracite 
furnace  at.  388,  440 ;  school  at,  451. 

Harrison,  Robert  H.,  member  of  Board 
of  War;  declines  to  serve,  280. 

Harrison,  General,  gains  victory  over  Te- 
cumseh  at  Tippecanoe,  314 ;  fights  bat- 
tle of  Thames  arid  kills  Tecumseh,  315  ; 
President,  330,  43^. 

Hartranft,  J.  F.,  491. 


INDEX. 


535 


Hazard,  Samuel,  the  historian,  quoted, 
30,  141. 

Hazlehurst,  Isaac,  442. 

Heath,  General,  reviews  Mifflin's  brigade, 
277 ;  at  Long  Island,  279. 

Heckewelder,  the  historian,  quoted,  85. 

Helm,  Israel,  to  be  councillor,  53. 

Hendrickson,  Cornells,  commands  Un- 
rest ;  meets  three  white  men  from  fort 
on  Hudson,  19;  report  of,  read  to 
States  General ;  demands  privilege  of 
trade,  20. 

Henderson,  Mrs.  Mary  C.,  marries  Gov- 
ernor Geary,  489. 

Henry,  Patrick,  eloquence  of,  173,  241  ; 
draws  draft  of  petition  to  the  King  ; 
draft  not  adopted  ;  his  neglect  of  litera- 
ture, 242. 

Hepburn,  Sarah  Ann,  marries  Governor 
Pollock,  425. 

Hepburn,  Samuel,  425. 

Hesse  Cassel,  Landgrave  of,  hires  troops 
to  Parliament,  195. 

Hessians,  capture  of,  at  Trenton,  198. 

Heyes,  Peter,  commands  two  vessels,  23 ; 
voyage  of;  purchases  land  of  Indians ; 
returns  to  Holland.  24. 

Hickok,  Henry  C.,  453. 

Hiester,  Joseph,  candidate  for  Governor  ; 
supported  by  Old  School  Men  and 
Federalists,  328;  ancestry  of;  birth  of; 
early  life,  333;  education;  marriage; 
removes  to  Reading  and  enters  mer- 
cantile business;  a  Whig  in  politics; 
member  of  State  Conference ;  captain 
of  militia,  334 ;  forms  volunteer  com- 
pany, 334,  335 ;  marches  with  com- 
pany to  New  Jersey ;  anecdote  of,  336  ; 
taken  prisoner;  confined  on  prison- 
ship  Jersey,  337  ;  taken  to  New  York  ; 
illness  of;  exchanged;  in  battle  of 
Germantown ;  wounded ;  member  of 
Convention  to  ratify  Federal  Constitu- 
tion ;  member  of  Convention  to  frame 
State  Constitution ;  member  of  the 
Legislature ;  member  of  Congress ; 
elected  Governor,  339 ;  administration  ; 
inaugural  address,  340 ;  extract  from 
message  of,  on  executive  patronage ; 
death ;  burial ;  extract  from  last  an- 
nual message,  341. 

Higginbotham,  one,  leads  band  of  Mary- 
landers  against  settlers  of  Lancaster 
county,  137. 

Hillsborough,  Earl  of,  writes  Governor 
Penn  to  prorogue  Assembly  if  it  ap- 
proves circular  letter  of  Massachusetts, 
175 

Hindlopen,  Cape,  named  after  town  in 
Friesland,  19. 

Hinoyossa,  Lt.  Alexander  D',  sub-com- 
mander of  vessels  to  the  colony,  44 ; 
succeeds  Alrichs  in  command  of  the 


City's  Colony;  in  conflict  of  authority 
with  Beekman ;  does  not  recognize 
Stuyvesant's  authority,  47 ;  success- 
ful government  of,  48 ;  visits  Holland ; 
secures  for  City  Company  entire  gov- 
ernment on  the  Delaware;  authority 
of;  returns  to  Holland,  49 ;  resists  at- 
tack on  fort ;  farm  of,  seized  by  Carr, 
52. 

Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania, 
Penn's  portrait  presented  to,  71;  me- 
moirs of,  quoted,  91,  22,'». 

Hoern  Kill,  court  established  at,  57. 

Hollandaer,  Peter,  commissioned  Gover- 
nor of  New  Sweden,  31 ;  succeeded  by 
Printz,  32. 

Holland,  ships  freighted  with  skins  to, 
23 ;  arms  of,  25  ;  climate  of,  26  ;  peace 
between  England  and,  concluded  ;  free 
from  foreign  war  ;  aggressive  policy,  40. 

Hollister,  Dennis,  grandfather  of  Peiiu'a 
second  wife,  95. 

Holme,  Thomas,  appointed  surveyor- 
general,  67,  68,  102. 

Holmes,  George,  commands  party  from 
Connecticut  that  attacks  Dutch  garri- 
son, and  is  captured,  28. 

Hooker,  General  Joseph,  4~S,  479,  481, 
483. 

Hoorn,  city  of,  fits  out  vessels,  19. 

Hopkins,  William,  372. 

Hospital,  Pennsylvania,  established,  266. 

Hosset,  Gillis,  commissary;  with  Hayea 
purchases  tract  of  land  of  the  Indians; 
left  in  charge  of  colony,  24. 

House  of  Representatives,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  joint  convention  with  coun- 
cil, elect  President  and  Vice-President, 
199 ;  action  of,  in  reference  to  new  con- 
stitution, 224 ;  sends  committee  with 
Mifflin  through  the  State  to  revive  re- 
cruiting, 280 1  Mifflin  speaker  of,  286  ; 
Snyder  speaker  of,  309,  310 ;  Findlay 
elected  to  ,•  William  Findlay  elected 
to,  325;  tries  supreme  judges ;  judge 
asks,  to  impeach  him,  326 ;  act  to 
revise  judiciary  system  before  the ; 
Findlay  resigns  seat  in,  327  ;  Ritner 
member  and  speaker  of,  362  ;  speech  of 
Stevens  in,  on  school  system,  303,  364  ; 
proceedings  of  the,  during  the  anti- 
Masonic  excitement,  372,  373 ;  David 
R.  Porter,  member  of,  382;  Packer, 
speaker  of,  438. 

Houston,  Captain,  seizes  prize-ship  Ac- 
tive, 311. 

Houston,  General  Sam,  intimate  with 
Governor  Porter,  389. 

Howe,  General,  commander  of  British 
troops ;  seeks  terms  of  capitulation ; 
departs  from  Boston,  sails  for  Halifax, 
195 ;  proceeds  to  New  York  ;  joined  by 
Clinton  aiid  Admiral  Howe ;  order  of 


536 


INDEX. 


Council  of  Safety  on  movements  of; 
orders  cautious  policy,  196 ;  with  army 
pails  for  the  Delaware;  moves  up  the 
Chesapeake ;  army  debarks  and 
marches  across  country,  201 ;  at  battle 
of  Hrandywine,  202 ;  confronted  by 
Washington  ;  enters  Philadelphia;  puts 
army  into  winter-quarters,  203;  marches 
against  Washington  at  White  Marsh; 
superseded  by  Clinton ;  departure  of, 
206  ;  sends  flag  of  truce  to  Washington, 
219  ;  lands  at  head  of  Elk  River,  2f»9. 

Howe,  Admiral  Lord,  with  fleet  joins 
British  army  at  New  York,  196 ;  steers 
for  New  York  from  the  Delaware ; 
takes  shelter  in  Raritan  Bay,  207. 

Howell,  Jacob  S.,  Secretary  Council  of 
Safety,  193. 

Hubley,  Edward  B.,  437. 

Hudde,  Andreas,  supersedes  Van  Ilpen- 
dara ;  adopts  instructions  of  Pnntz, 
33 ;  policy  of;  retained  as  commis- 
sary on  the  Delaware  by  Stuyvesant ; 
complains  of  the  Swedes,  34;  over- 
reacties  Printz  by  craft,  35 ;  member 
of  council,  etc.,  43;  commands  Fort 
Christina  and  New  Gottenburg,  44. 

Hudson,  Hendrick,  discovers  Bay  of 
New  York,  17,  18 ;  sails  in  the  Half 
Moon ;  returns  to  Holland ;  visit  of,  to 
Delaware  River,  18. 

Hudson  River,  The,  17 ;  first  known  as 
North  River,  18 ;  ships  ply  between 
it  and  the  Delaware,  23 ;  Stuyvesant 
summoned  to,  from  the  Delaware,  43. 

Hull,  General,  Governor  of  Michigan, 
surrenders  Detroit,  314. 

Humphries,  Charles,  delegate  to  Con- 
gress, 183;  votes  against  Declaration; 
omitted  from  new  delegation,  187. 

Hunter's  Falls,  arrest  of  Anne  Smith, 
alias  Carson,  at,  320. 

Huntingdon  County,  David  R.  Porter  re- 
moves to,  381;  Porter,  register  of,  etc., 
382. 

Hutchinson,  Governor  of  Massachusetts ; 
letters  of,  published  by  Franklin,  262, 
263. 

Independence,  Declaration  of,  adoption 
of,  186,  187 ;  names  of  committee  on, 
187. 

Indians,  name  of  the  Delaware  River, 
18;  the  Miuquas,  Mohawks,  Mohicans, 
20;  settlers  trade  with,  22;  land  pur- 
chased from,  22,  23 ;  purchase  con- 
firmed in  presence  of,  23 ;  massacre 
by,  24;  account  of  massacre  by  a 
native;  Italians  compared  to,  25; 
lands  purchased  from,  by  Swedes  and 
Finns,  30;  the  Minquas  brought  lu- 
crative trade,  33 ;  the  North  American, 
grarts  of;  spirituous  liquors  given 


to,  by  the  Swedes ;  chiefs  hold  confer- 
ence ;  stroking  arm,  token  of  friend- 
ship among  the;  the  Swedes  and  the, 
in  Priii tz's  time;  treaties  with,  con- 
firmed, 38  ;  former  treaties  with,  con- 
firmed, 39 ;  massacre  settlers  on  the 
Hudson,  43;  commission  to  decide  dif- 
ficulties of,  53 ;  murders  committed 
by ;  uprising  of,  feared,  54  ;  action  of, 
in  reference  to  murderers,  55  ;  liquors 
not  to  be  sold  to,  58, 59 ;  Penn  and  the, 
68,  79,  80,  83;  Cherokees,  166;  Otta- 
was,  167;  regulations  concerning,  80; 
great  treaty  with  ;  the  Leuni  Lenape; 
the  Mingo,  83;  the  Shawanese,  83, 134, 
158,  167,  171;  the  Iroquois,  85;  the 
Delawares,  85,  158,  171 ;  grants  of, 
84 ;  lands  purchased  from  ;  dissatis- 
faction of,  with  "walking  purchase;" 
first  murder  by,  88;  company  formed 
to  Christianize,  96 ;  large  numbers  of, 
wait  upon  Penn  prior  to  his  leaving 
for  England,  97 ;  complain  of  Gover- 
nor Evans,  121 ;  difficulty  between ; 
chiefs  of  Five  Nations  meet  Keith 
in  conference ;  speech  at  conference 
of,  128;  one  killed  near  Conestoga; 
invite  Governor  Keith  to  a  confer- 
ence at  Albany;  speech  of  Grand 
Sachem  to  Governor  Keith,  129 ;  dis- 
turbances among,  incited  bv  strong 
drink,  132  ;  treaty  with  Five  Nations ; 
council  of,  in  Philadelphia  ;  conference 
with,  frequent;  peaceful  policy  towards; 
not  excluded  from  testifying  in  court, 
133;  French  seduce  with  presents; 
policy  of  Pennsylvania  towards,  146 ; 
artfulness  of;  hold  council  at  Albany ; 
Conrad  Weiser  sent  among,  to  gain  fa- 
vor of;  passions  of,  aroused,  147  ;  com- 
plain of  white  settlers  intruding  on 
their  lands  west  of  the  Susquehanna; 
intruders  removed  from  lands  of,  148  ; 
chiefs  of  Six  Nations  order  French 
from  their  lands  ;  Assembly  vote  mo- 
ney to  secure  friendship  of;  amount 
of  gratuities  to,  in  a  year,  150 ;  ter- 
rible massacres  by,  158,  162  ;  confer- 
ence with,  at  Easton  ;  Charles  Thomp- 
son secretary  to  the,  162;  the  Chero- 
kee, commence  hostilities;  South 
Carolina  militia  led  against  the;  re- 
pulse Colonel  Montgomery ;  Colonel 
Grant  defeats  Cherokee,  166 ;  league 
of,  under  Pontiac ;  forts  captured  by  ; 
murders  of,  along  the  whole  frontier, 
167,  168;  account  of  massacre  of,  by 
Paxton  Bovs,  169,170;  the  Moravian, re- 
moved  to  Province  Island ;  two  policies 
towards,  170;  campaign  against;  sur- 
render captives,  172  ;  Connecticut  peo- 
ple purchase  lands  of  the;  Proprietors 
of  Province  purchase  lauds  of,  17  6 ;  the 


INDEX. 


537 


Christian,  move  beyond  the  Ohio,  178 ; 
murder  of,  by  Cresap  and  Greathouse ; 
Six  Nations  quieted  by  Johnson,  180; 
parties  disguised  as,  throw  tea  into  the 
water  at  Boston,  181 ;  dine  at  Colonel 
Miffliu's,  277;  power  of,  broken,  315;  Six 
Nations,  treaty  with,  at  Philadelphia ; 
an  orator  of  the,  speaks  of  Logan,  140. 

Indies,  western  passage  to,  18. 

Intelligencer,  The  Harrisburg,  quoted, 
3:iO. 

Ireland,  Penn  sent  to,  71. 

Irving,  Washington,  quoted,  217,  218, 
219,  275,  276,  278. 

Irvine,  General,  succeeds  Putnam  in 
command  at  Philadelphia,  199. 

Irwin,  Archibald ;  Nancy,  marries  Wil- 
liam Findlay,  325  ;  Alexander,  436. 

Island,  of  New  York,  17. 

Italians,  compared  to  Indians,  25. 

Jackson,  General  Andrew,  marches  to 
defence  of  New  Orleans ;  victory  of, 
316,  346;  President;  appoints  Gov- 
ernor Findlay  Treasurer  of  the  Mint, 
330 ;  elected  President,  346  ;  nullifica- 
tion proclamation  of;  opposes  United 
States  Bank ;  appoints  Wolf  Comp- 
troller of  the  Treasury,  360 ;  appoints 
Andrew  Porter  Governor  of  Michigan, 
380. 

Jacobs,  Indian  chief,  shot  at  Kittanning, 
161. 

Jacobson,  Marcus,  [Long  Finn,]  incites 
insurrection ;  taken  and  tried ;  trans- 
ported to  Barbadoes,  54. 

Jacquet,  John  Paul,  appointed  vice  di- 
rector on  the  Delaware ;  council  of 
four  given  him  as  a  court  to  try  civil 
causes,  43  ;  authority  of,  ceases,  44. 

Jamaica,  Admiral  Penn  wins  distinction 
in  conquest  of,  60. 

James,  Duke  of  York,  patent  to,  51 ; 
ascends  the  throne :  received  with 
favor;  opposed  to  persecution,  89; 
makes  speech ;  cause  of  Friends 
brought  before,  90;  zeal  for  Catholic 
church,  90,  109;  communication  of 
Penn  with,  91 ;  abdication  of,  92 ; 
friend  of  Penn ;  retires  to  France, 
109. 

James  River,  chosen  by  cavaliers,  17. 

Janney,  Samuel  M.,  his  Life  of  Penn 
quoted,  90. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  drafts  Declaration  of 
Independence,  187,  246 ;  life  of,  quoted, 
187;  on  committee,  245;  his  opinion 
of  Dickinson,  246;  Minister  to  France, 
264;  letter  of  McKean  to;  President, 
302,  325,  350 ;  tribute  to  McKean,  306 ; 
orders  British  vessels  out  of  United 
States  waters,  313;  leader  of  Republi- 
can party,  343;  appoints  Wolf  post- 


master at  Easton,  350 ;  ousiness  habite 
of,  359. 

Jefferson  College,  bestows  degree  on 
Governor  Pollock,  425;  Governor 
Geary  educated  at,  467. 

Jeffrey's  Ford,  on  the  Brandy  wine; 
General  Howe  crosses  at,  202. 

Jersey,  the  prison-ship,  description  of, 
337,  338. 

Johnston,  William  Freame,  birth  of; 
ancestry,  403  ;  education  ;  studies  law, 
404 ;  practises  law  ;  appointed  district 
attorney  ;  elected  to  the  House  aud  to 
the  Senate ;  advocates  issue  of  relief 
notes ;  president  of  the  Senate,  405 ;  be- 
comes Governor  through  the  death  of 
Shunk ;  assumes  authority ;  orders  an 
election,  406 :  extract  from  message  of, 
on  the  election ;  views  on  tariff  ques- 
tion, 407  ;  quotes  messages  of  Presi- 
dents and  Governors  on  the  tariff; 
message  on  printing  the  archives,  409 ; 
views  on  slavery,  and  injustice  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  410,  411;  success- 
ful management  of  finances  ;  re-nomi- 
nated, but  defeated ;  retires  from  office ; 
engaged  in  manufactures ;  president 
of  Alleghany  Valley  Railroad;  chair- 
man Executive  Committee  of  Public 
Safety;  superintends  construction  of 
defences  of  Pittsburg ;  becomes  respon- 
sible for  ammunition  sent  to  West  Vir- 
ginia; appointed  collector  of  Port  of 
Philadelphia;  marriage;  death,  412. 

Johnston,  Alexander,  father  of  William 
F. ;  birth  of ;  surveyor,  sheriff,  magis- 
trate, etc.,  403 ;  death  of;  a  centena- 
rian ;  oldest  Freemason  in  the  United 
States;  Elizabeth,  Richard,  Edward, 
and  Colonel  John  W.,  404;  Richard 
M.,  442. 

Johustone,  George,  British  commissioner, 
225  ;  bears  private  letters  to  Reed;  of- 
fers bribe  to  Joseph  Reed,  226. 

Johnson.,  Sir  William,  victor  over  Baron 
Diesker  on  Lake  George ;  invited  to 
conference  with  Indians  at  Easton, 
162;  succeeds  General  Prideaux,  163; 
agent  of  Indian  affairs,  172;  called 
upon  to  quit-t  Indians,  180. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  President,  appoints 
Governor  Johnston  collector  of  Phila- 
delphia, 412. 

Joncaire,  De  La,  captain  and  interpreter 
in  the  French  service,  150. 

Jones,  John,  tutor  of  Simon  Snyder,  308. 

Jorissen,  Governor,  Arien,  [Cornells  Ja- 
cobsen  Mey,]  22. 

Journal,  Pennsylvania  School,  quoted, 
366. 

Judiciary,  act  concerning,  annulled  ;  old 
act  revived,  134;  troubles  respecting 
the  workings  of  the  Constitution,  386 ; 


538 


INDEX. 


list  of,  appointed  by  Governor  Porter, 
387. 
Junto,  established  by  Franklin,  254,  255. 

Kansas,  Governor  Bigler  travels  over, 
422  ;  troubles  in,  473,  475. 

Keagy,  Dr.,  451. 

Keinier,  Samuel,  employer  of  Franklin, 
253,  254. 

Keith,  Sir  William,  appointed  Governor ; 
Surveyor  of  Customs  for  Southern 
Provinces;  salary  of,  as  surveyor; 
visits  to  Philadelphia;  has  confidence 
in  Logan ;  arrives,  and  received  with 
much  pomp ;  calls  Assembly  together ; 
courtesy  to  the  Assembly;  affable  de- 
portment of;  rewarded  with  ample 
salaries,  125 ;  in  doubt  as  to  executing 
office  after  death  of  Penn ;  commission 
of,  renewed  by  Wm.  Penn,  Jr. ;  lays 
doubts  before  the  Assembly ;  letter 
of  instructions  to ;  refers  subject  of 
Proprietaryship  to  the  Lord  Regent; 
confirmed  in  office  by  the  Lord  Regent, 
126 ;  offends  the  Penn  family,  127 ; 
skilful  in  managing  the  Assembly ; 
chancellor  of  court  of  equity ;  visits 
Governor  of  Virginia;  holds  confer- 
ence with  chiefs  of  the  Five  Nations; 
makes  an  elaborate  address  to  the  In- 
dians, 128 ;  makes  presents  to  the  In- 
dians ;  received  by  citizens ;  prompt 
measures  of,  for  arrest  of  Indian  mur- 
derers; visits  Albany;  Sachems'  ad- 
dress to  ;  sides  with  people  and  Assem- 
bly, 129 ;  acts  independent  of  Council ; 
removes  Logan  from  office ;  reproved 
by  Hannah  Penn  ;  directed  to  reinstate 
Logan,  but  refuses ;  superseded ;  ad- 
ministration of;  secures  privileges  to 
Quakers ;  elected  to  the  Assembly ; 
foiled  in  wish  to  be  speaker,  130 ; 
thwarted  by  Lloyd ;  brings  cavalcade 
to  awe  the  Assembly ;  waning  power 
of;  publishes  History  of  Virginia; 
death  of;  widow  of,  neglected,  and 
death  of,  131  ;  proposes  duty  on  stamp 
paper,  172;  deceives  Franklin,  254. 

Keith,  George,  native  of  Scotland ;  Sur- 
veyor-General of  East  New  Jersey ; 
opens  school  in  Philadelphia;  salary 
of,  106  ;  creates  schism  in  the  Church  ; 
•Character  of;  his  opinion  of  Lloyd, 
107,  108 ;  proclaims  himself  at  head 
of  true  Society  of  Quakers ;  testi- 
mony of  Society  against  him  ;  appeals 
to  Society  in  London ;  bitter  enemy 
of  Quakers ;  joins  Church  of  Eng- 
land; ordained  a  clergyman;  offici- 
ates in  England  and  America;  death 
of;  death-bed  declaration  of,  108. 

Kenny,  Charles,  incident  of  appointment 
as  clerk  o'  oourt,  319. 


Kent,  the  county  of,  deed  of,  to  Penn,  69. 

Kensington,  Penn  resides  at,  116. 

Key  of  Calmar,  the  vessel,  30. 

Kieft,  Sir  William,  29;  director  of  New 
Netherland;  sends  protest  to  Minuit; 
complaint  about  trade,  30. 

Kilen,  Mr.,  234. 

King's  Bridge,  Mifllin  stationed  at,  277, 
278. 

Kirkpatrick,  Rev.  David,  425,  491. 

Kittanning,  Indian  town,  destroyed,  161. 

Kittatinny  Hills,  forts  and  block-houses 
erected  along  the  line  of,  from  the  Del- 
aware to  Maryland,  158. 

Klein,  Elmerhuvsen,  member  of  Coun- 
cil, and  commissary,  43. 

Klinginsinith,  Philip,  anecdote  of,  419. 

Knap's  Battery,  476. 

Knowles,  a  settler  of  Lancaster  County, 
killed  by  Marylanders,  137. 

Knyphausen,  General,  at  Brandywine 
battle,  202. 

Krause,  David,  434. 

Krygier,  Captain  Martin,  commands  ves- 
sels to  the  Colony,  44. 

Kunze,  Dr.,  344. 

Laet,  Jean  de,  work  on  West  Indies,  22. 

Lafayette,  General,  arrives  in  America; 
wounded,  202 ;  goes  to  Rhode  Island, 
212. 

Lake  Champlain,  Ticonderoga  between, 
and  Lake  George,  163. 

Lake  George,  Ticonderoga  between,  and 
Champlaiu,  163. 

Lancaster  County,  Marylanders  attempt 
to  drive  settlers  from  ;  sheriff*  of,  sum- 
mons posse  to  resist ;  invaded  by  Cre- 
sap  with  fifty  armed  men ;  skirmish 
with  invaders,  and  Cresap  wounded 
and  made  prisoner ;  another  band  in- 
vades territory,  and  are  dispersed  by 
sheriff;  party  of  Marylanders  release 
prisoners  from  jail;  order  of  the  King 
restrains  both  parties,  137  ;  Franklin 
procures  wagons  and  horses  in,  foi 
Braddock,  156;  Indian  murders  in, 
162  ;  settlements  in,  169. 

Lancaster,  town  of,  troops  put  in  bar- 
racks at,  163  ;  Indians  killed  in  work- 
house at,  169  ;  Hessian  prisoners  at, 
198 ;  Congress  and  Supreme  Council 
meet  at,  204 ;  funeral  of  President 
Wharton  at,  210 ;  Franklin  College  at ; 
visit  of  Franklin  to,  265,  266 ;  Legis- 
lature at,  288 ;  Governor  Snyder  born, 
at,  308;  capital,  325;  Governor  Shulze 
removes  to,  349. 

La  Ray,  Fort,  captured  by  Indians,  167. 

Law,  The  Great,  passed  by  the  Assem- 
bly ;  first  section  of,  86. 

Lawrence,  Alderman,  Franklin  declines 
colonelcy  in  favor  of,  144 


INDEX. 


539 


Laurie,  Gawen,  assignee  to  Byllinge,  60; 
trustee  for  West  Jersey  colonists,  77. 

Legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  passes  Act 
vesting  estate  of  Proprietors  in  Com- 
monwealth ;  sum  paid  to  Proprietors  by 
the,  193 ;  proceedings  of,  in  the  Urn- 
stead  case,  sent  to  President  Madison, 
311 ;  message  of  Governor  Snyder  to  the, 
in  the  Umstead  case,  312 ;  Snyder's  in- 
augural address  to;  custom  of  Executive 
delivering  messages  in  person  to,  abol- 
ished, 317  ;  first  message  to,  against  sla- 
very, 318  ;  passes  bill  chartering  forty 
banks,  319,  328 ;  Snyder's  last  message 
to,  321 ;  asks  Governor  McKean  to  re- 
move Judge  Breckenridge,  327;  passes 
bill  to  refund  money  to  State  Treasurer 
Findlay  ;  inquires  into  the  official  con- 
duct of  Treasurer  Findlay,  328  ;  reports 
in  favor  of  Treasurer ;  inquires  into  of- 
ficial conduct  of  Governor  Findlay,  321 ; 
sits  in  Dauphin  County  court-house, 
330 ;  members  of,  entertained  by  Gov- 
ernor Findlay,  331 ;  message  of  Hiester 
to,  on  reform,  341 ;  message  of  Shulze 
to,  on  will  of  majority,  346  ;  approves 
views  of  Jackson  on  nullification  ;  fa- 
vors renewing  charter  of  United  States 
Bank,  360;  passe.s  Common  School  Law, 
362 ;  message  of  Ritner  to,  on  educa- 
tion, 367  ;  violent  proceedings  in,  dur- 
.  ing  anti-Masonic  excitement,  372,  373 ; 
authorizes  sale  of  bank  and  bridge 
stock  of  the  State  ;  revives  State  tax  ; 
authorizes  issue  of  relief  notes,  405; 
messages  of  Governor  Johnston  to,  on 
the  election,  the  tariff,  and  slavery,  407, 
408,409,  410,  411,  412;  discussion  in, 
on  chartering  Pennsylvania  Central 
Railroad,  417,  418,  419;  extra  session 
called  to  avert  financial  crisis,  430; 
Petrikin  member  of,  434  ;  votes  money 
to  soldiers'  orphans'  schools,  462 ;  mes- 
sages of  Geary  to  the,  486,  487. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry,  moves  Declaration 
of  Independence,  186,  246;  drafts  ad- 
dress to  people  of  England,  241 ;  ad- 
dress not  adopted,  242. 

Lee,  General  Charles,  sent  to  defend  New 
York,  195 ;  at  the  battle  of  Monmouth, 
207;  character  of,  218;  corresponds 
with  Reed,  220. 

Lee,  General  Henry,  commands  troops  to 
quell  Whiskey  Insurrection,  287. 

Lee,  Arthur,  ambassador  to  France,  207. 

Lee,  General  Robert  E.,  invades  Pennsyl- 
vania, 478. 

Leesburg,  Va.,  477. 

Lebanon  County,  Shulze  recorder,  etc., 
of;  Shulze  senator  from,  345. 

Levin,  John,  agent  for  Duke  of  York, 
calls  Andros  to  account,  65. 

Lewis,  Attorney  General,  405. 


Ligonier,  Fort,  Colonel  Boquet  reaches, 
168.  4 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  431 ;  elected  Presi- 
dent, 456 ;  tenders  mission  to  Curtin, 
463. 

Line,  Mason  and  Dixon's,  67. 

Little  Timber  Creek,  21. 

Livingston,  Philip,  member  of  Congress, 
241 ,  242 ;  on  committee  to  revise  min- 
utes, 291. 

Lloyd,  Thomas,  president  of  Council; 
keeper  of  Great  Seal,  89,  101 ;  death 
of,  94,  111;  educated  at  Oxford,  101; 
attached  to  the  Quakers,  101,  112; 
embarks  with  Penn  to  America, 
101 ;  commissioner  of  land-office,  102 ; 
one  of  five  commissioners  ;  applies  to 
Penn  to  be  relieved  of  office ;  Penn's 
letter  to,  relieving  him  of  office,  103, 
104;  recommends  appointment  of  sin- 
gle executive,  104;  refuses  to  deliver 
up  the  great  seal,  105;  again  made 
president  of  Council,  105,  106 ;  com- 
missioned Deputy  Governor,  106,  111 ; 
George  Keith's  opinion  of,  107,108; 
letter  of  Penn  to,  on  public  matters, 
108;  Fletcher  writes  to,  110;  subser- 
viency to  Fletcher  censured  by  Penn, 
110;  where  born,  111,  112;  of  respect- 
able family ;  character  of;  last  words 
of,  112. 

Lloyd,  David,  Speaker  of  the  House; 
signs  address  denouncing  the  Governor 
and  Proprietor ;  at  head  of  faction  op- 
posing Governor  Evans;  champion  of 
the  popular  party ;  again  elected 
Speaker,  119;  cause  of  quarrel  with 
the  Governor  and,  120;  charges 
brought  against,  121 ;  troubles  be- 
tween Logan  and,  122 ;  thwarts  de- 
signs of  Keith;  elected  Speaker  of 
Assembly,  131.  / 

Lloyd,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Thomas; 
marries  William  Moore,  283. 

Lloyd,  Susan,  daughter  of  Thomas; 
marries  Thomas  Wharton,  Jr.,  208. 

Loan-Office  established;  McKean  trustee 
of,  291. 

Loe,  Thomas,  Quaker  preacher,  70; 
preaches  at  meeting  of  Friends  in 
Cork,  71. 

Logan,  James,  appointed  Provincial 
Secretary  and  Clerk  of  Council,  98, 
116;  came  with  Penn  to  the  Province; 
enjoys  Penn's  unlimited  trust,  116; 
fast  friend  of  the  Proprietor,  119; 
charges  brought  against,  121 ;  troubles 
with  David  Lloyd ;  returns  to  Eng- 
land, and  Jays  troubles  before  the  Pro- 
prietor, 122;  confides  in  Governor 
Keith,  125 ;  resists  Governor  Keith ; 
removed  from  office ;  goes  to  London  ; 
Keith  directed  by  Hannah  Penn  to 


540 


INDEX. 


reinstate ;  refusal  of  Keith  to  reinstate, 
130 ;  manages  affairs  of  Colony  with 
firmness ;  kind  hearing  towards  the 
Indians ;  nominally  Governor  for  long 
period  ;  offices  held  by  ;  sketch  of,  by 
Proud,  138,  139,  140;  library  of;  In- 
dian estimate  of;  appearance  of,  145. 

Logan,  Robert,  grandfather  of  James, 
138. 

Logan,  William,  son  of  James;  member 
of  Governor's  council,  140. 

Logan,  Deborah,  gives  account  of  British 
in  Philadelphia,  204. 

Logan,  Indian  chief,  family  of,  mur- 
dered ;  eloquence  of,  180. 

Logan,  Patrick,  father  of  James;  re- 
moves into  Ireland  from  Scotland ; 
educated  in  University  of  Edinburgh ; 
joins  Quakers,  138. 

Logan,  James  R.,  489. 

Logan,  Margaret  Ann,  marries  John  W. 
Geary,  489. 

London,  Penn's  sermons  in,  95 ;  Frank- 
lin arrives  in,  164. 

Londonderry,  Chester  County;  birth- 
place of  McKean,  289. 

Long  Island,  Washington  driven  from, 
196. 

Longstreth,  candidate  for  Governor,  419. 

Lords,  British  House  of,  bill  before,  to 
change  Proprietaryship  to  royal  Gov- 
ernor, 115;  postpones  action  on  ap- 
pointing royal  Governors,  116. 

Lossing,  Benson  J.,  works  of,  quoted, 
232,  239. 

Lottery,  money  raised  by,  for  defence, 
144. 

Louis  XIV.,  King,  declares  war  against 
the  Netherlands,  56. 

Louis  XV.,  King,  Franklin  presented  to, 
262. 

Louisburg,  operations  against,  162. 

Louisiana,  given  up  to  the  English,  167. 

Loudoun,  Earl  of,  in  chief  command ; 
recalled,  162. 

Lovelace,  Colonel  Francis,  succeeds 
Nicholls,  53  ;  issues  proclamation  for 
arrest  of  Jacobsen  and  Coleman,  54; 
absent  at  New  Haven  when  Dutch 
arrive  at  New  York,  56 ;  returns  to 
Europe,  56,  57. 

Lovell,  James,  of  Massachusetts ;  chair- 
man Committee  on  Foreign  Relations ; 
blames  Washington,  282. 

Lower  Counties.    See  Territories. 

Lowden,  Richard,  with  party  of  Mary- 
landers,  release  prisoners  from  Lancas- 
ter jail,  137. 

Lucas,  Nicholas,  assignee  for  Byllinge, 
60 ;  trustee  for  West  Jersey  colonists, 
77. 

Lurgan,  place  of  James  Logan's  birth, 
138. 


Lutzen,  battle  of,  29. 
Lycoming  County,  434,  438,  439. 
Lyttleton,  Lord,  rebukes  Richard  Penn, 
179,  180. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  his  charges  against 
Penn,  refuted,  91,  92. 

Madison,  James,  motion  of,  in  Congress, 
on  death  of  Franklin,  267  ;  president; 
replies  to  Governor  Snyder  on  the  Um- 
stead  case,  311 ;  declares  wt».r  against 
Great  Britain,  314 ;  tenders  appoint- 
ments to  Andrew  Porter,  380. 

Manhattan,  island  of;  settlers  return  to, 
22  ;  purchase  of  land  confirmed  at,  23  ; 
purchase  of  Heyes  and  Hosset  con- 
firmed at,  24 ;  present  sent  to  Governor 
at,  26 ;  De  Vnes  leaves  present  at,  27  ; 
prisoners  sent  to,  28 ;  traders  from ; 
overtures  to  authorities  at,  by  Christina 
colonists,  31 ;  ship  Mercury  ordered  to, 
44;  Colonel  Nicnolls  arrives  at,  51. 

Manning,  Captain  John,  commands  fort 
at  New  York,  56. 

Marcy,  Wm.  L.,  474. 

Markham,  William,  deputy  Governor, 
65,  79,  101;  brings  letter  of  Penn  to 
colonists,  65,  79  ;  date  of  commission  ; 
visits  the  Governor -at  New  York,  and 
obtains  letter  from,  65,  66,  79 ;  shows 
Penn's  patent  to  Governor  Brockholls ; 
proceeds  to  the  Delaware;  empowered 
to  call  a  council ;  brings  letter  to  Lord 
Baltimore  on  settlement  of  boundary ; 
confers  with  Lord  Baltimore,  66  ;  first 
court  under;  instructions  of,  67  ;  makes 
large  purchase  of  the  Indians  ;  searches 
a  site  for  a  city;  Penn's  instructions  to, 
about  city ;  discards  Penn's  location, 
68;  takes  King's  declaration  to  the 
Province;  cousin  of  the  Proprietary, 
79 ;  made  Secretary  of  Province  and 
Territories,  101 ;  withdraws  from  Coun- 
cil, 106 ;  commissioned  Deputy  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Territories,  106,  114;  sub. 
serviency  of,  to  Fletcher,  censured  by 
Penn,  110;  meets  Council  and  Assem- 
bly ;  disregards  organic  law ;  approves 
new  Constitution,  114. 

Marshall,  Edward,  employed  in  the 
"walking  purchase,"  88. 

Martial,  Christopher,  Remembrancer  of 
quoted,  212. 

Mary,  Queen,  letter  of,  to  Fletcher,  111. 

Maryland,  State  of,  English  settlements 
in,  47 ;  claims  territory  on  Delaware, 
50;  northern  boundary  settled,  66,  67  ; 
country  north  of,  granted  to  Penn,  78 ; 
religious  liberty  in,  81 ;  controversy 
between,  and  Pennsylvania,  89 ;  citi- 
zens of,  invade  Pennsylvania,  137; 
agreement  in  reference  to  disputed 
boundary  line  approved  by  the  King, 


INDEX. 


541 


141 ;  in  council  with  Indians,  147 ; 
Governor  of,  invited  to  conference  with 
Indians  at  Easton,  162  ;  Franklin  agent 
of,  at  London,  165;  militia  of,  called 
out  to  quell  Whiskey  Insurrection, 
287,  466. 

Massachusetts,  extension  of  territory  of, 
50;  Franklin  agent  of,  at  London,  165  ; 
proposes  a  general  congress,  173 ;  letter 
of  Assembly  of,  offends  Ministry,  174 ; 
harsh  measures  of  Parliament  to,  con- 
demned, 182,  183. 

Mason,  Thomas,  to  run  boundary  line; 
name  world-renowned,  67. 

Masonic,  fraternity,  excitement  against, 
36-2. 

Masters,  Miss  Polly,  marries  Richard 
Penn, 179. 

Maverick,  Samuel,  Esq.,  commissioner, 
51. 

McAllisterville,  462. 

McClellan,  General  George  B.,  422. 

McDermott,  Josephine,  marries  David  R. 
.  Porter,  382. 

McDermott,  William,  382. 

McFarland,  Colonel  George  F.,  462. 

McKean,  Thomas,  birth  of;  education  ; 
studies  law ;  clerk ;  deputy  prothono- 
tary  and  register,  289 ;  admitted  to 
practise  law ;  deputy  attorney -general ; 
clerk  of  Assembly ;  appointed  to  codify 
laws ;  member  of  Assembly ;  declines 
being  candidate ;  names  seven  persons 
as  representatives,  290  ;  trustee  of  loan 
office  ;  member  of  first  Congress;  chal- 
lenged by  president,  292;  thanks  of 
Assembly  to ;  notary  public ;  justice  of 
the  peace;  orders  use  of  unstamped 
paper ;  collector  of  the  port  of  New 
Castle ;  member  Continental  Congress, 
293 ;  resides  permanently  in  Philadel- 
phia ;  letter  on  signing  the  Declara- 
tion, 294;  signature  omitted  from  the 
Declaration,  295  ;  chairman  of  conven- 
tion of  deputies ;  colonel  of  regiment ; 
chairman  Committee  of  Safety  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  of  Inspection  of  Phila- 
delphia; marches  with  regiment  to  join 
Washington ;  anecdote  of,  296  ;  signs 
parchment  copy  of  the  Declaration; 
writes  the  Constitution  of  Delaware  in 
a  single  night,  297 ;  Chief  Justice  of 
Pennsylvania ;  letter  to  John  Adams, 
298 ;  resignation  as  delegate  in  Con- 
gress for  Delaware  refused ;  President 
of  Congress ;  resigns  as  president,  299 ; 
tribute  to,  300 ;  member  of  conven- 
tion to  ratify  Federal  Constitution ; 
member  of  convention  to  revise  State 
Constitution,  301 ;  elected  Governor  ; 
letter  to  Dickinson;  letter  to  Jefferson, 
302;  articles  of  impeachment  against, 
303 ;  extract  from  messages,  304 ;  friend- 


ship for  John  Adams ;  letter  to  Adams, 
305  ;  death  of;  appearance ;  marriage  ; 
character,  306  ;  honors  conferred  upon  ; 
offices  held  by,  307  ;  opposes  Hundred 
Dollar  Act ;  estranged  1'rorn  his  party, 
310;  fails  to  remove  a  judge  at  request 
of  Legislature,  o!7;  affiliates  with  Re- 
publicans ;  appoints  Wolf  clerk  of 
courts,  350. 

McKean,  William,  native  of  Ireland; 
father  of  Thomas,  289. 

McKean,  Lajtitia,  native  of  Ireland, 
mother  of  Thomas,  289. 

Mead,  William,  taken  with  Penn  and 
tried  at  Old  Bailey ;  acquitted  by  jury  ; 
fined  for  keeping  hat  on  in  court; 
imprisoned,  74. 

Meadville,  451. 

Mecklenburg,  N.  C.,  declaration,  424. 

Melsheimer,  Rev.-M.,  344. 

Mendenhall,  Rose,  Aaron,  and  Rose,  433. 

Mennonites,  community  of  emigrants ; 
terms  of  association,  48 ;  opposed  to 
defensive  war,  146. 

Mercer  County,  parents  of  Governor  Big- 
ler  remove  to,  413. 

Mercersburg,  William  Findlay  born  at; 
described,  323. 

Metamequan,  Indian  king,  signs  deed 
for  lands  purchased,  88. 

Mexico,  war  with,  468,  469. 

Mey,  Cornells  Jacobsen,  arrival  on  the 
American  coast,  19;  commands  ship ; 
first  director  of  New  Netherlands; 
builds  Fort  Nassau,  21 ;  succeeded  by 
Van  Hulst,  22. 

Miamis,  Fort,  captured  by  the  Indians, 
167. 

Michael,  St.,  the  Archangel,  feast  of,  82. 

Michael,  Elizabeth,  marries  Simon  Sny- 
der,  320. 

Michilimackinack,  Fort,  captured  by  In- 
dians, 167. 

Mifflin,  Thomas,  delegate  to  Congress, 
183,  274 ;  appears  before  Congress ;  ex- 
amines defences  of  Philadelphia,  200  ; 
president  of  Council ;  birth;  of  Qua- 
ker parentage  ;  education,  273  ;  mer- 
chant ;  visits  Europe ;  elected  to  the 
Assembly,  274 ;  patriotic  address  of; 
made  a  major,  275;  with  Washington 
as  colonel  and  aid-de-camp ;  described 
by  Irving;  first  hostile  encounter; 
bravery  of;  made  quartermaster-gene- 
ral, 276  ;  described  by  Graydon ;  brig- 
adier-general ;  commands  Pennsylva- 
nia troops,  277 ;  anecdote  of,  278  ; 
again  quartermaster-general ;  bearer 
of  despatches  to  Congress ;  addresses 
Congress,  279 ;  sent  by  Congress 
through  the  State  to  make  addresses  ; 
made  major-general ;  member  of  Board 
of  War,  280 ;  resignation  refused ;  sue- 


542 


INDEX. 


Deeded  by  General  Greene ;  joins  the 
army  in  the  field ;  inquiry  into  con- 
duct of,  281 ;  resignation  refused  sec- 
ond time  ;  confidence  of  Congress  in  ; 
thanks  voted  by  Congress,  282  ;  classed 
among  opponents  to  Washington ;  let- 
ter of,  283 ;  president  of  Congress ;  re- 
ceives resignation  of  Washington,  284  ; 
reply  of,  to  Washington's  tender  of 
resignation,  285 ;  Speaker  of  Assem- 
bly :  member  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion;  president  Council;  president  of 
Convention,  286 ;  elected  Governor;  at 
the  head  of  militia  in  quelling  Whis- 
key Insurrection,  287;  last  official 
communication ;  member  of  Assembly  ; 
decease;  character,  288. 

Militia,  to  be  raised  in  the  State,  184  ; 
Carolina,  repulse  British,  195;  lives 
of,  spared,  200;  of  Philadelphia  or- 
dered out;  stationed  at  Downingtowu 
and  Chester,  201 ;  ordered  out  by  Gov- 
ernor Ritner,  373. 

Millersburg,  440. 

Milton,  424,  425,  451. 

Ministry,  the  British,  prosecute  war  with 
Indians;  offended  with  Massachusetts 
circular  letter,  171 ;  exasperated  at 
Colonies,  181 ;  resolve  to  force  submis- 
sion of  Colonies,  184;  order  evacuation 
of  Philadelphia ;  send  fleet  to  America, 
207. 

Minuit,  Peter,  made  director ;  purchases 
land  where  the  city  of  New  York  is 
built ;  administration  of,  22 ;  succeeded 
by  Van  Twiller,  27  ;  protest  of  Kieft  to ; 
completes  fort,  30;  arts  of;  governs 
Colony  with  success;  death  of,  31. 

Mirabeau,  tribute  of,  to  memory  of 
Franklin,  267. 

Mirick,  or  Merrig,  Prince  of  Demeca ; 
ancestor  of  Thomas  Lloyd,  233. 

Mississippi  River,  endeavor  of  French  to 
erect  a  line  of  forts  from  Canada  to  the, 
146 ;  French  escape  to,  from  Fort  Du 
Quesne,  163. 

Miquon,  Indian  name  for  Penn,  85; 
meaning  of,  86. 

Mohawk  Valley,  the,  17. 

Money,  demanded  for  defence  of  Albany, 
111 ;  bill  passed,  114  ;  solicited  by  Gov. 
Gookin,  122 ;  maxim  on  continental, 
359. 

Monongahela,  Valley  of,  claimed  by  Vir- 
ginia, 180. 

Monmouth,  battle  of,  207. 

Montreal,  captured  by  the  English,  166. 

Montgomery  County,  Andrew  and  Da- 
vid R.  Porter  born  in,  379 ;  Francis  R. 
Shunk  born  in,  392. 

Montcalm,  General,  commands  French 
at  Quebec ;  fight  of,  with  Wolfe ;  death 
of.  164. 


Monteith,  Mary,  marries  William  F. 
Johnston,  412. 

Montgomery,  Colonel,  repulsed  by  Cher- 
okee Indians,  166. 

Moore,  William,  elected  vice-president 
of  Council,  216 ;  elected  president  of 
Council ;  character  of;  settlement  of 
salary,  231 ;  Robert  Morris  friend  of, 
232;  term  expires;  director  of  Bank 
of  Pennsylvania;  chairman  meeting 
of  citizens  ;  elected  member  of  Assem- 
bly; death  of;  marries  Sarah  Lloyd; 
children  of;  only  daughter  marries, 
233. 

Moore,  Nicholas,  at  head  of  Council ; 
chief-justice;  impeached  by  House; 
expelled  from  the  Assembly ;  guiltless 
in  the  eyes  of  Penn,  102 ;  appointed  on 
commission,  but  never  acted,  103. 

Moore,  Jacob  B.,  470. 

Moore,  Colonel  Thomas  Lloyd,  son  of 
President  Moore;  marries  Sarah 
Stamper,  233. 

Moore,  Elizabeth,  only  daughter  of  Pres- 
ident Moore;  marries  M.  De  Marbois; 
resides  in  Greece ;  death  of,  233. 

Moore,  Robert  Kearney,  third  child  of 
President  Moore,  233. 

Moravians,  opposed  to  defensive  war,  146. 

Morris,  Robert  Hunter,  relieves  Governor 
Hamilton ;  disputes  with  Assembly ; 
rejects  money  bill,  155,  157;  Assem- 
bly remonstrates  against  veto  of,  157 ; 
declares  war  against  the  Indians;  re- 
lieved of  office ;  son  of  Lewis  Morris  ; 
bred  a  lawyer ;  councillor  and  chief- 
justice  of  New  Jersey ;  administration 
unprofitable;  death  of,  159. 

Morris,  Lewis,  father  of  Governor  Mor- 
ris; Chief  Justice  of  New  York  and 
New  Jersey,  and  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  159. 

Morris,  Robert,  delegate  to  Congress; 
signs  Declaration,  187;  merchant; 
friend  of  President  Moore;  appointed 
Secretary  of  Finance;  placed  at  head 
of  Bank  of  North  America;  Washing- 
ton appeals  to,  for  money ;  anecdote  of;  • 
writes  to  Washington,  232 ;  absent  when 
vote  was  taken  on  Declaration,  246. 

Morristown,  Washington  encamps  at,  199. 

Morton,  John,  appointed  delegate  to  gen- 
eral Congress,  173,  183  ;  votes  for  Dec- 
laration, 187. 

Monltrie,  General  William,  with  Carolina 
militia  repulses  British  at  Sullivan's 
Island,  195,  196. 

Mount  Rock,  town  of,  374. 

Mount  Pleasant,  Geary  born  near,  466. 

Mowland,  John,  234. 

Moylan,  General  Stephen,  succeeds  Mif- 
flin  as  Quartermaster-General,  279. 

Mud  Fort,  upon  Fort  Island,  205. 


INDEX. 


543 


Mud  Island,  fort  on,  erected,  167 ;  Fort 

Mifflin  on,  205. 
Muhlenberg,  Dr.  Henry,  344 ;  Henry  A., 

candidate  for  Governor,  360,  436. 
Muney,  Indian  town,  destroyed,  168. 
Muskingum,     River,     Colonel     Boquet 

reaches,  and  treats  with  the  Indians, 

171,  172. 

Naaman,  Indian  chief,  speech  of,  38. 

Nain,  Indians  at,  removed  to  Philadel- 
phia, 169. 

Napoleon,  amazes  Europe;  declares  Eng- 
lish coast  in  blockade,  313 ;  power  of, 
broken,  315. 

Narragansett,  Bay,  storm  in,  disables 
French  vessels,  212. 

Nassau,  Dutch  name  for  Delaware  River, 
18 ;  fort,  built,  21 ;  fort,  attacked,  28 ; 
English  sail  past,  31 ;  Van  Ilpendam 
at;  protests  between  Tinicum  and,  33. 

Native  American,  party,  defeats  Bigler, 
421 ;  Hazlehurst  candidate  of,  412. 

Navy,  the  British,  Penn's  father  admiral 
in,  60,  69. 

Navy,  Board  of,  appointed,  200. 

Needham,  Captain  Robert,  to  command 
the  Delaware  Colony,  53. 

Negroes,  slavery  of,  prohibited  ;  act  con- 
cerning, annulled,  122;  allowed  to  give 
testimony  in  court,  133. 

Neshaminy  Creek,  lands  near,  purchased, 
88. 

Netherlands,  peace  between  England 
and,  concluded,  58. 

New  Amsterdam,  force  sent  from,  to 
route  English  settlers,  32 ;  De  Vries 
comes  from,  to  visit  Printz,  35,  36; 
Swedish  troops  sent  to,  41. 

Newark  abandoned  by  Washington,  196 ; 
skirmish  at,  202. 

New  Brunswick  abandoned  by  AVash- 
ington,  196. 

New  Castle,  Fort  Casimir  erected  near 
present  site  of,  35 ;  meeting  of  Friends 
at;  list  of  taxables  of,  59;  boundary 
line  to  be  twelve  miles  from,  67  ;  I'enn 
arrives  at,  69,  82 ;  town  of,  conveyed  to 
Penn,  81 ;  deputation  of  Council  sent 
to,  106 ;  fort  erected  by  P>ans  at,  120 ; 
"McKean  collector  of  port  of,  293. 

tfew  Castle,  County  of,  Penn  obtains 
deed  for,  69 ;  McKean  register  and 
prothonotary  of,  289,  290;"  McKean 
trustee  of  loan  office  of,  291  ;.McKeau 
justice  of  the  peace  in,  293. 

New  England,  encroachments  of,  upon 
Stuyvesant,  34 ;  visited  by  Colonel 
Nicholls,  51. 

New  Gottenburg,  Fort,  32. 

New  Jersey,  constitution  promulgated ; 
experience  gained  by  Penn  in  framing 
governn  ^ut  of,  78 ;  Governor  of,  in- 


vited to  conference  with  Indians  at 
Easton,  162;  retreat  of  enemy  through. 
199 ;  militia  of,  called  out  to  quell 
Whiskey  Insurrection,  287. 

New  Haven,  Council  to  meet  Lovelace 
at,  56. 

New  Netherlands,  first  named  in  edict 
of  States  General,  19;  ship  dispatched 
to  America ;  chief  power  in  territory 
of,  vested  in  a  director ;  seat  of  gov- 
ernment of,  established,  21 ;  Minuit 
general  director  of;  Minuit  in  service 
of,  30 ;  passes  under  English  rule,  52 ; 
reduction  of,  by  Duke  of  York,  53 ; 
squadron  dispatched  for  recovery  of, 
56 ;  recovered  by  the  Dutch  ;  called 
New  Orange,  57 ;  restored  to  the  Eng- 
lish, 58. 

New  Orange,  named,  57. 

New  Orleans,  victory  at,  316. 

New  Port  May,  Delaware  Bay  known  as, 
18. 

New  Sweden,  expense  of  expedition 
against,  44. 

Newspapers,  Washington  Chronicle,  The, 
quoted,  365 ;  Public  Inquirer,  The ; 
Bellefoute  Patriot,  The ;  Pennsylvania 
Intelligencer,  The,  434;  Gazette,  The 
Lycoming,  435 ;  Keystone,  The,  437. 

New  Swedeland  Stream,  the  Delaware 
called,  by  the  Swedes,  18. 

New  Wales,  Penn's  name  for  Pennsylva- 
nia, 60. 

New  World,  possessions  in ;  trade  in,  19  ; 
territory  in,  21 ;  authority  in,  22  ;  de- 
sire of  De  Vries  to  see,  26  ;  lucrative 
trade  in,  27  ;  king  of  Sweden  and,  29 ; 
aggressive  policy  of  Sweden  in,  40 ; 
power  of  Swedes  ended  in,  41 ;  de- 
scendants of  Swedes  in,  42. 

New  World,  Dutch  and  English  rule  in, 
50 ;  accounts  of,  334. 

New  York,  Council  in,  53,  54 ;  appeal  to 
government  at,  54;  Dutch  squadron 
arrives  at ;  fort  at,  surrendered,  56 ; 
deputies  from  Delaware  go  to ;  Council 
at,  select  justices,  57 ;  Markham  goes 
to,  65 ;  Governor  of,  invited  to  con- 
ference with  Indians  at  Easton,  162 ; 
Governor  of,  refuses  to  allow  Moravian 
Indians  to  enter  his  dominions,  170; 
General  Congress  meets  at,  174  ;  Gen- 
eral Charles  Lee  sent  to  defend,  195; 
General  Howe  proceeds  to,  196 ;  Frank- 
lin in,  253 

Nicholls,  Colonel  Richard,  English  Gov- 
ernor, 50 ;  commands  expedition  to 
possess  Duke  of  York's  territory ;  to 
visit  the  New  England  Colonies ;  in- 
structions of;  arrives  at  Boston,  and 
confers  with  authorities  ;  sails  for  Con- 
necticut ;  arrives  at  Manhattan  ;  issues 
proclamation,  51 ;  discountenance? 


544 


INDEX. 


seizure  of  farms ;  visits  the  Delaware  ; 
makes  digest  of  laws ;  his  will  su- 
preme law ;  administration  of;  suc- 
ceeded by  Lovelace,  53. 

Nieuer  Amstel,  ceded  territory  called ; 
Jacob  Alrichs  director  of,  44;  families 
in,  45;  negotiations  for  transfer  to 
West  India  Company;  Finns  resolve 
to  abide  in,  48 ;  court  established  at,  57. 

Nisbet,  Dr.,  president  of  Dickinson  Col- 
lege, 249. 

Noble,  Richard,  arrives,  59. 

Normal  schools,  system  of,  inaugurated, 
454,  455. 

Norris,  Mary,  marries  John  Dickinson, 
250. 

Norris,  Isaac,  delegate  to  first  General 
Congress,  154;  opposes  the  King's  as- 
suming direct  government  of  Province, 
171 ;  daughter  of,  marries  John  Dick- 
inson, 250. 

Norristown,  379,  381. 

North  River,  18. 

North,  Lord,  British  premier;  proposi- 
tions of,  concerning  peace,  225. 

Northampton  County,  Indian  murders 
in,  102 ;  Governor  Wolf  born  in ;  Wolf 
clerk  of  court  in,  350. 

Northumberland  County,  Union  and 
Snyder  counties  taken  from,  309 ;  Pol- 
lock born  in,  424,  440. 

Nova  Scotia,  expeditions  against  the 
French  in,  successful,  158 ;  given  up  to 
the  English,  167. 

Ogden,  Robert,  292. 

Ogle,  Governor  of  Maryland,  demands 
release  of  Cressap ;  seizes  and  places  in 
jail  four  settlers  of  Lancaster  county, 
137. 

Ohio  Company,  authorized  by  the  Vir- 
ginia Assembly  to  settle  beyond  the 
Alleghanies;  settlers  of,  meet  the 
French,  149 ;  Marquis  Du  Quesne  re- 
monstrates against  encroachments  of, 
150  ;  party  of,  routed  by  the  French  ; 
Washington  moves  to  aid  of  the,  153. 

Old  School  Men,  branch  of  Republican 
party ;  nominate  Hiester  for  Governor, 
328. 

Oliver,  Lieut.  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts ;  letters  of,  published  by  Frank- 
lin, 262,  263. 

Onas,  Indian  name  for  Penn,  85 ;  mean- 
ing of,  86. 

Ontario,  Lake,  166. 

Oplandt,  Fort,  24. 

Orange,  Prince  of,  New  Netherlands 
named  in  honor  of,  57. 

Ormond,  Duke  of,  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
Ireland ;  second  son  of,  71. 

Ouachtanon,  Fort,  captured  by  the  In- 
dians, 167. 


Oxenstiern,  prime  minister  of  Sweden, 

30. 
Oxford  College,  Penn  at,  70. 

Packenham,  General,  defeated  at  New 
Orleans  ;  death  of,  31 1>. 

Packer,  William  Fisher,  birth ;  ancestry, 
433  ;  apprenticed  to  learn  printing ; 
clerk;  journeyman  printer;  studies 
law,  434 ;  purchases  and  edits  Lycom- 
ing  Gazette ;  marries,  435 ;  Superin- 
tendent of  West  Branch  Canal ;  favors 
re-election  of  Wolf;  defeated  for  sena- 
tor, 436 ;  publishes  the  Keystone  at 
Harrisburg;  member  of  Canal  Board; 
appointed  auditor  general,  437;  mem- 
ber of  the  House ;  competitor  returned 
elected  by  mistake ;  elected  speaker  of 
the  House,  438;  decision  sustained; 
elected  State  Senator,  439  ;  prominent 
action  in  reference  to  Susquehanna 
Railroad,  440 ;  speech  on  three-hun- 
dred-dollar law ;  president  Susquehan- 
na Railroad,  441 ;  appointed  by  the 
Legislature  to  take  charge  of  the  rail- 
road from  Erie  to  Ohio  line  ;  labors  for 
Buchanan's  election  ;  delegate  to  Dem- 
ocratic National  Conventions  at  Balti- 
more and  Cincinnati ;  elected  Governor, 
442 ;  letter  of,  to  Buchanan  on  admis- 
sion of  Kansas,  443  ;  extracts  from  mes- 
sages of,  442 ;  on  national  questions. 
444,  448;  death,  448;  appearance  and 
character,  449. 

Packer,  James,  father  of  William  ;  Char- 
ity, mother ;  James,  grandfather ;  Phil- 
ip, great-grandfather;  Hezekiah  B. ; 
John  P.,  433  ;  Samuel  J.,  434. 

Paget,  John,  his  Inquiry  quoted,  91,  92. 

Palmer,  Anthony,  President  of  Council ; 
term  of;  a  gentleman  of  wealth  ;  re- 
moves to  colony  from  the  West  Indies ; 
keeps  a  coach,  147. 

Paoli,  massacre  at ;  monument  at,  203. 

Pappegoya,  John,  receives  letter  of 
Queen  to  Printz;  marries  Printz's 
daughter ;  becomes  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor, 33 ;  left  by  Printz  in  chief  au 
thority,  35  ;  retained  power  but  five  or 
six  months,  36;  departs  for  Europe, 
37,  38 ;  wife  of,  in  possession  of  Printz 
Hall,  37,  38 ;  passenger  on  ship  Mer- 
cury, 44. 

Paris,  Penn  at,  70. 

Parke,  Benjamin,  437. 

Parker,  Admiral  Sir  Peter,  joins  Clinton 
in  attack  on  Charleston,  S.  C.,  195. 

Parker,  John,  ode  of,  to  the  memory  of 
Franklin,  quoted,  268. 

Parliament,  strong  party  in,  opposed  to 
Penn ;  passes  act  requiring  royal  as- 
sent to  appointment  of  Deputy  Gover- 
nors, 116  ;  passes  bill  prohibiting  issue 


INDEX. 


545 


of  paper  currency  in  American  Colo- 
nies, 152 ;  votes  monument  to  General 
Wolfe,  164 ;  considers  taxing  of  the 
Colonies,  172;  Franklin  before,  174; 
action  of,  in  reference  to  tax  on  tea, 
181 ;  pays  annuity  to  descendants  of 
Penn,  193 ;  action  in  reference  to  the 
war,  194,  195. 

Partridge,  Richard,  sent  as  associate  to 
Franklin  at  London,  164. 

Passmore,  Thomas,  petitions  House  for 
impeachment  of  justices  of  supreme 
court ;  fined  and  imprisoned,  326. 

Patterson,  Major-General,  373. 

Patton,  Edward,  381. 

Pautaxat,  Indian  name  for  Delaware 
River,  18. 

Paxton  Boys,  or  Rangers,  massacre  Indi- 
ans at  Conestoga  and  Lancaster,  160  ; 
at  Germantown ;  committee  sent  to 
confer  with ;  return  home,  leaving 
Smith  and.  Gibson  to  plead  their 
cause ;  conduct  justified,  170. 

Penn,  William,  assignee  to  Byllinge ; 
as  such  first  gets  interested  in  settle- 
ments in  America ;  claim  of  his  father 
on  the  English  government,  60 ;  coun- 
try confirmed  to ;  protests  against 
name  of  State ;  to  pay  two  beaver- 
skins  annually  for  grant,  61 ;  makes 
Markham  Deputy  Governor ;  letter  of, 
to  Colonists  ;  Proprietor,  65 ;  patent 
to,  shown  Governor  Brockholls ;  dis- 
pute about  boundary  continued  till 
after  the  death  of,  66 ;  description  of 
Province,  67,  79  ;  letter  of,  to  the  In- 
dians ;  instructions  about  site  for  a 
city,  68  ;  obtains  deed  of  release  from 
Duke  of  York ;  sails  for  the  Dela- 
ware; arrives  at  New  Castle;  sketch 
of;  parentage  and  birth,  69 ;  goes  to 
Oxford  and  enters  Christ  Church 
College ;  joins  Quakers,  and  expelled 
from  college ;  expelled  from  home ; 
recalled  home  and  sent  to  France ; 
reads  religious  works ;  returns  from 
the  Continent,  70-;  has  polish  of  French 
Society ;  student  at  Lincoln's  Inn ; 
sent  to  Ireland ;  received  with  marked 
attention  ;  assists  in  quelling  mutiny ; 
offered  a  captaincy  ;  portrait  painted  ; 
hears  Thomas  Loe  preach,  71;  re- 
nounces the  world  ;.  constant  attendant 
at  Friends'  meetings ;  imprisoned,  72 ; 
writes  to  Earl  of  Orrery ;  on  universal 
toleration ;  liberated  from  prison,  and 
returns  home ;  expelled  from  home  by 
his  father;  called  to  the  Gospel  minis- 
try, 72  ;  writer  of  religious  works,  72, 
73,  75,  76;  controversy  with  Vincent; 
imprisoned  in  the  Tower;  Dr.  Stilling- 
fleet  visits  him  in  prison,  73;  released 
from  the  Tower ;  friendship  for  Duke 
35 


of  York ;  arrested  and  tried  at  the  old 
Bailey ;  makes  own  defence ;  acquitted 
by  jury  ;  fined  for  keeping  hat  on  iu 
court ;  imprisoned  for  non-payment  of 
fine,  74 ;  fine  paid  by  his  father;  af- 
fecting meeting  with  father  on  his 
death-bed;  last  words  of  father  to; 
comes  into  possession  of  estate;  in- 
come of;  writes  tract  against  Popery, 
75 ;  accused  of  being  a  Catholic ;  im- 
prisoned second  time  in  Newgate; 
marries,  76 ;  wife's  love  for,  76,  77 ; 
lives  at  Rickmansworth ;  assists  in 
framing  constitution  for  West  New 
Jersey ;  trustee  for  Colonists ;  letter  of, 
to  Colonists;  Colony  of  West,  Jersey 
prosperous  under,  77 ;  experience  of, 
to  fit  him  for  founding  a  colony ;  in- 
herits claim  against  British  govern- 
ment ;  petitions  Charles  II.  to  grant 
him  a  tract  of  country  in  America; 
patent  of,  signed  by  the  king ;  declara- 
tion of  grant  to ;  persons  in  Province 
to  yield  obedience  to,  as  Governor; 
letter  of,  to  people  of  Province  ;  object 
in  founding  Colony,  78 ;  and  the  Indi- 
ans, 79,  80,  83,  84,  85 ;  conditions  of. 
for  settling  Province,  79,  80 ;  prepare! 
for  voyage;  code  of  laws  originated 
with,  80  ;  and  religious  liberty ;  penaf 
code  of ;  and  the  constitution  ;  and  the 
Province;  obtains  two  deeds  from 
Duke  of  York,  81 ;  embarks  for  Amer- 
ica ;  writes  letter  to  wife  and  children  ; 
house  at  Worminghurst,  Sussex ;  cares 
for  those  sick  with  small-pox  ;  arrives 
at  New  Castle:  welcomed  by  inhab- 
itants; explains  nature  of  govern- 
ment; changes  name  of  Upland  to 
Chester;  visits  site  of  Philadelphia, 
and  is  welcomed  by  old  settlers ;  visits 
New  York,  82 ;  holds  "  Great  Treaty  " 
with  the  Indians,  83,  84 ;  appearance 
of,  83 ;  called  Miquon  and  Onas  by  the 
Indians,  85  ;  great  influence  over  Indi- 
ans, 86 ;  walks  out  land  with  Indian 
chiefs ;  name  of,  unjustly  coupled  with 
"  walking  purchase  "  ;  first  murder  by- 
Indians  after  landing  of,  88 ;  friend- 
ship of  Duke  of  York  for,  89;  em- 
barks for  England,  and  reasons  for, 
89,  101 ;  commissions  Council  to  act 
in  his  stead,  89 ;  takes  lodgings  at 
Kensington  ;  accused  of  being  a  Cath- 
olic; opposes  the  king's  arbitrary 
measures,  90;  Macaulay's  charges 
against,  refuted,  91,  92  ;  object  in  fre- 
quenting court,  91 ;  abuse  of;  reply  to 
Lords  of  Council ;  required  to  give 
sureties  for  appearance  at  court; 
cleared  in  open  court ;  is  arrested,  ami 
gives  V>«"^  °2 ;  again  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned ;  discharged  by  court ;  pre- 


546 


INDEX. 


pares  for  voyage  to  America ;  accused 
Dy  Fuller  to  the  government;  defers 
voyage ;  lives  in  seclusion ;  writes  to 
Friends;  visited  by  John  Locke  and 
others,  93;  writes  religious  works; 
flight  to  France  a  fabrication ;  brought 
before  the  king,  and  given  his  liberty ; 
describes  interview  in  letter ;  wife  of, 
dies ;  tribute  to  her  worth ;  govern- 
ment of  Pennsylvania  restored  to ;  ap- 
points Markham  Lieutenant  Governor, 
94  ;  reaction  .in  favor  of ;  sermons  of; 
marries  Hannah  Callowhill ;  embarks 
for  Pennsylvania;  arrives  at  Chester; 
with  family,  settles  on  Pennsbury 
Manor ;  brings  law  before  Council  for 
regulating  marriages  of  negroes ; 
mourns  over  state  of  slaves,  95;  lib- 
erates his  slaves ;  will  in  reference  to 
slaves,  96 ;  appoints  Council  of  State, 
97 ;  convenes  inhabitants  of  Philadel- 
phia to  bid  them  farewell  and  present 
charter  for  city;  appoints  Andrew 
Hamilton  Lieutenant-Governor;  ap- 
points Logan  Provincial  secretary  and 
clerk  of  Council ;  treachery  of  Stew- 
ard ;  becomes  a  prisoner  for  debt ; 
Friends  liquidate  tne  debt  and  set  him 
at  liberty ;  anxiety  of,  on  account  of 
Province,  98 ;  concludes  to  dispose  of 
right  of  government  in  the  Province  to 
the  British  Crown,  98,  124;  illness  of, 
99 ;  death  of,  99,  126 ;  buried  at  Jor- 
dan's, in  Buckinghamshire,  99  ;  char- 
acter of,  99,  100 ;  Bancroft's  testimony 
of,  101 ;  letter  to  Council,  102 ;  letter 
of,  to  Lloyd ;  commissions  Blackwell 
Deputy  Governor,  104;  estimate  of 
Blackwell ;  hopes  concerning  Black- 
well  not  realized;  proposes  three 
forms  of  executive  power,  105 ;  letter 
of,  to  Lloyd,  on  establishing  a  public 
school,  106  ;  letter  of,  on  withdrawal 
of  the  Lower  Counties,  107  ;  letter  of, 
to  Lloyd,  regretting  absence,  108 ; 
causes  of  detention  in  England  ;  aban- 
dons project  of  new  Colony,  109 ; 
Province  wrested  from ;  respected  by 
King  William,  110;  Province  restored 
to ;  preamble  to  patent  restoring  Prov- 
ince to,  113;  commissions  Markham 
Deputy  Governor,  114 ;  urges  vigilance 
against  French  privateersmen ;  with 
his  family,  arrives  in  the  Colony  ;  de- 
sign of,  to  remain  ;  first  objects  of  care 
in  government,  115 ;  recalled  to  Eng- 
land, 115, 116  ;  bids  the  Indians  a  final 
farewell,  116;  appoints  Andrew  Ham- 
ilton Deputy  Governor  ;  appoints  Lo- 
gan Provincial  secretary  and  clerk  of 
Council ;  in  favor  with  Queen  Anne, 
lib";  opposition  to  government  of,  110, 
117 ;  appoints  Colonel  Charles  Gookin 


Deputy  Governor,  121 ;  letter  of,  ab;>ut 
troubles  in  Province,  123 ;  stricken 
with  paralysis,  124, 126;  provisions  of 
will,.  126 ;  suit  in  chancery  to  deter- 
uiine  devise  of,  127  ;  his  devise  of  Pro- 
prietary rights  devolves  upou  John, 
Thomas,  and  Ilichard  Penn ;  agree- 
ment to  sell  Province  to  the  Crown 
void,  127. 

Penn,  Admiral,  father  of  William ;  in 
the  British  navy,  69 ;  removes  to  Ire- 
land, 70;  expels  his  son  from  his 
house,  70,  72  ;  sends  son  to  France,  70 ; 
recalls  son  from  Ireland,  77  ;  on  death- 
bed ;  affecting  meeting  with  son  ;  last 
words  to  son  ;  dying  request  to  Duke 
of  York  to  protect  his  son,  75. 

Penn,  William,  Jr.,  son  of  Proprietor, 
arrives  in  the  Colony ;  selected  mem- 
ber of  Council,  118  ;  inherits  father's 
estates  in  England ;  land  in  Pennsyl- 
vania apportioned  to  each  of  three 
children;  renews  commission  of  Keith; 
gives  letter  of  instructions  to  Keith ; 
not  thought  by  Keith  to  be  heir  to  the 
Province,  126;  commissions  Logan 
secretary  of  Province;  death  of;  son 
Spriiigett  dies,  127. 

Penn.  Hannah,  wife  of  Penn ;  Penn 
makes  sole  executrix,  and  devises  es- 
tate in  Pennsylvania  to  her  and  five 
children,  126 ;  assumes  management 
of  colonial  affairs,  127 ;  Logan  lays 
grievances  before ;  reproves  Gov. 
Keith,  and  directs  him  to  reinstate  Lo- 
gan, 130. 

Penn,  John,  son  of  Wm.  Penn,  one  of  the 
Proprietors,  127,  134;  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania; arrives  in  the  Province;  ad- 
dress of  Assembly  to ;  answers  Assem- 
bly ;  returns  to  England  to  defend  Pro- 
prietary rights ;  death  of;  unmarried ; 
leaves  share  of  colony  to  his  brother 
Thomas,  135,  136. 

Penn,  Granville,  presents  portrait  of 
Penn  to  Historical  Society ;  author  of 
Memorials  of  Sir  Wm.  Penn,  71. 

Penn,  Thomas,  son  of  Wm.  Penn,  one  of 
the  Proprietors,  127, 134 ;  arrives  in  the 
Province,  135;  departs  for  Europe;  As- 
sembly addresses,  to  which  he  makes 
answer,  143 ;  patron  of  Library  Com- 
pany, 255. 

Penn,  Richard,  son  of  Wm.  Penn,  one  of 
the  Proprietors,  127,  134;  protests 
against  Lord  Baltimore's  application 
for  transfer  of  Lower  Counties,  136 ;  his 
son  John  arrives  in  the  colony,  153; 
death  of,  177. 

Penn,  Dennis,  son  of  Wm.  Penn,  dies, 
127. 

Penn,  Springett,  recommends  Gordon  foi 
Governor,  132. 


INDEX. 


Penn,  John,  son  of  Richard,  arrives  in 
the  colony ;  made  presiding  officer  of 
the  Council,  153 ;  delegate  to  General 
Congress.  1-54 ;  supersedes  James  Ham- 
ilton as  Deputy  Governor ;  issues  proc- 
lamation for  arrest  of  Paxton  Boys ; 
requested  to  remove  Indians  from  Con- 
estoga,  169;  sends  Moravian  Indians 
to  New  York ;  sends  committee  to  con- 
fer with  the  Paxton  Boys,  170;  de- 
clares war  against  Indians,  171;  As- 
sembly dine  with,  174  ;  called  to  Eng- 
land by  death  of  his  father,  177 ;  re- 
turns to  Province ;  promise  of,  to  arrest 
Indian  murderers  averts  hostilities; 
territory  of,  west  of  the  Alleghanies  in- 
vaded by  Virginia  settlers ;  arrests 
Connolly ;  remonstrates  with  Virginia 
government,  180;  remonstrates  against 
Congressional  action,  183,  184 ;  shorn 
of  power;  born  in  England;  inherits 
one  third  Proprietary  interest,  188 ;  of- 
fers bounties  for  Indian  scalps ;  mar- 
ries Anne  Allen  ;  description  of;  re- 
mained in  America  during  Revolution ; 
arrested  by  Congress;  death  of;  re- 
mains taken  to  England,  189. 

Penn,  Richard,  second  son  of  Richard, 
arrives  in  the  colony ;  commissioned 
Lieutenant  Governor;  action  towards 
Susquehanna  Company,  178  ;  adminis- 
tration of;  commission  revoked  ;  born 
in  England  ;  marries  Polly  Masters  of 
Philadelphia;  appearance  of;  member 
of  Council,  and  naval  officer;  returns 
to  England ;  intrusted  with  last  petition 
from  the  Colonies  to  the  King,  179, 
244;  examined  before  House  of  Lords 
on  American  affairs,  179 ;  death,  and 
age  of;  superseded  by  John  Penn,  180 ; 
Arnold  rents  house  of,  224. 

Pennsylvania,  Province  of,  first  attempts 
at  colonization  in,  17;-  soil  of,  first 
pressed  by  foot  of  white  man,  18 ;  ter- 
ritory embraced  in ;  royal  charter 
granting  it  to  Penn;  named  by  will  of 
the  King;  Penn  to  pay  two  beaver- 
skins  every  year  for,  61  ;  boundary  line, 
66,  67  ;  deed  of  release  for,  from  Duke 
of  York  ;  the  territories  in  distinction 
from,  69 ;  persons  in,  to  yield  obe- 
dience to  Penn ;  letter  of  Penn  to  in- 
habitants of,  78 ;  Penn's  description  of; 
conditions  for  taking  up  land  in,  79 ; 
Indian  trade  in ;  features  in  Constitu- 
tion of,  80;  defect  in  constitution  of; 
penal  code  of  founder  of,  81 ;  Penn's 
passage  to ;  intercourse  between  inhabi- 
tants of,  and  Indians;  representatives 
of,  meet  in  Assembly,  86 ;  controversy 
with  Maryland,  89 ;  Governor  Fletcher 
assumes  jurisdiction  of;  territories  and, 
at  variance,  94 ;  townships  and  in- 


habitants in,  at  Penn's  departure ; 
sway  of  Penn  in,  102;  territories 
withdraw  from,  105 ;  first  free  school 
in ;  desire  of  Penn  to  make  real  re- 
public of;  Lloyd  Deputy  Governor  of j 
Penn  agrees  to  withdrawal  of  territo- 
ries from,  106 ;  reasons  for  wresting, 
from  Penn,  113;  pacific  policy  of,  114; 
article  in  new  constitution  allowing  for 
dissolving  union  with  territories,  115; 
filled  with  discord,  122 ;  Keith  familiar 
with  political  opinions  in,  12'  ;  general 
prosperity  in  ;  little  money  in  circula- 
tion in  ;  inspectors  of  produce  in,  ap- 
pointed ;  produce  of,  commands  ready 
sale  in  the  West  Indies  ;  paper  money 
issued  in,  127  ;  Keith  foments  difficul- 
ties in;  Governor  Gordon  arrives  in, 
132  ;  prosperity  of,  133  ;  Mr.  Paris  rep- 
resents, at  court;  rights  of,  infringed, 
leading  to  armed  resistance,  135 ;  agree- 
ment as  to  disputed  boundary  line  be- 
tween Maryland  and,  141 ;  religious 
excitement  in,  produced  by  preaching 
of  Whitefield,  143 ;  dangers  threaten 
the ;  policy  of,  towards  the  Indians ;  to 
look  to  England  for  protection,  146 ; 
distributes  presents  to  the  Indians ;  In- 
dian tribes  in  central  and  western  part 
of,  visited  by  Conrad  Weiser;  Anthony 
Palmer  removes  to,  147 ;  Governor 
Hamilton  arrives  in;  Richard  Peters 
secretary  of  the,  148  ;  exempted  from 
prohibitory  currency  bill,  152 ;  to  fur- 
nish recruits  to  resist  the  French,  155; 
erects  forts  along  Kittatinny  Hills  at 
expense'of  eighty-five  thousand  pounds, 
158  ;  Governor  Denny  arrives  in,  160 ; 
militia  of,  march  to  Fort  Du  Quesne ; 
frontier  guarded  by  General  Stanwix, 
163 ;  Historical  Review  of,  by  Frank- 
lin ;  Governor  Denny  active  for  de- 
fence of,  165;  share  of  money  voted  to, 
for  expense  of  French  war,  166 ;  de- 
plorable condition  of,  after  Pontiac  war, 
169  ;  Franklin  advocates  transfer  of,  to 
Crown,  173;  commercial  interests  of, 
attended  to  by  Richard  Penn,  179; 
southwestern  portion  of,  claimed  by 
Governor  of  Virginia,  180 ;  holds  gen- 
eral conference,  182 ;  delegates  of,  to 
Congress,  183;  second  convention  of; 
number  of  militia  to  be  raised  in,  184 ; 
vote  on  Declaration  divided  ;  members 
from,  voting  for  Declaration,  187  ;  Pro- 
prietary government  of,  suspended,  193; 
establishes  loan  office,  291. 
Pennsylvania,  Commonwealth  of,  Act 
passed  for  vesting  estate  of  Proprietors 
in,  193 ;  British  army  invades,  201 ;  pa- 
pers and  books  of,  removed  to  Boston. 
?04;  soldiers  of,  revolt;  university  of, 
incorporated,  227 ;  Wyoming  coutro- 


548 


INDEX. 


versy  decided  in  favor  of,  22? ;  Presi- 
dent Moore's  settlement  with,  231 ;  aids 
patriot  cause,  232  ;  M  id!  i  n  sent  through, 
to  arouse  the  people,  280 ;  militia  of, 
called  out  to  quell  Whiskey  Insurrec- 
tion, 287  ;  McKenn  chief  justice  of, 
298;  public  improvements  in,  34(i,  3:52, 
383,  385;  majority  of  Jackson  in  ;  La- 
fayette visits,  346 ;  high  premium  on 
Securities  of;  connnon-scnool  system 
established  in,  353,  358 ;  deplorable 
condition  of  credit  of;  English  bond- 
holders denounce,  405;  Petrikin  dep- 
uty secretary  of,  434  ;  troops  furnished 
by,  459. 

Peters,  Richard,  Secretary  of  the  Prov- 
ince, sent  to  remove  intruders  from  In- 
dian lands ;  gives  money  and  offers 
homes  to  settlers,  148  ;  delegate  to  first 
General  Congress,  154;  member  of 
Board  of  War,  281. 

Petrikin,  Henry,  434. 

Petti t,  Sarah,  433. 

Philadelphia,  site  of,  acquired  by  the 
Dutch,  34 ;  boundary  line  south  of, 
67  ;  located  by  Markliam,  68  ;  inhabi- 
tants in,  at  Penn's  departure,  102; 
Governor  Fletcher's  journey  to,  110; 
annual  fair  at,  120;  Counci'l  at,  133; 
church  erected  by  Whitefield  in,  143 ; 
presents  Colonel  Armstrong  with  medal 
and  plate,  161 ;  Indians  push  -within 
thirty  miles  of,  162;  troops  quartered 
on  inhabitants  of,  163;  defenceless, 
166 ;  frontiersmen  proceed  to,  and 
create  an  alarm ;  militia  called  out  in, 
170 ;  meeting  against  taxation  of 
America,  held  in,  181  ;  meeting  in, 
recommend  calling  a  Congress,  182 ; 
second  Provincial  Convention  in ; 
meeting  in,  after  battle  of  Lexington, 
184  ;  public  meeting  in  resolves  the  As- 
sembly incompetent,  and  recommends 
a  convention  to  frame  new  govern- 
ment, 185;  Constitutional  Convention 
assembles  in,  187;  Washington  with- 
draws in  direction  of;  consternation  in ; 
inhabitants  warned  to  leave,  196 ; 
shops  in,  to  be  closed ;  General  Put- 
nam takes  command  in,  197  ;  Hessian 
prisoners  marched  through,  198;  Con- 
gress returns  to,  from  Baltimore ;  Gen- 
erals Irvine  and  Gates  in  command  of, 
199;  Washington  marches  through, 
with  army ;  militia  of,  ordered  out, 
201 ;  militia  of,  at  battle  of  Brandy- 
wine,  202 ;  General  Howe  enters,  and 
goes  into  winter-quarters  at,  203,  281, 
298 ;  books  in  library,  removed  to 
Easton,  204; 'Sir  Henry  Clinton  ar- 
rives in ;  tournament  in :  departure 
of  Howe  from,  206  ;  evacuated,  207  ; 
destruction  of  property  in ;,  history  of, 


quoted,  212;  friends  of  constitution 
strong  in,  222  ;  bitter  feelingin,  against 
Tories ;  riot  of  militia  in ;  academy 
and  college  of,  subject  of  legislation, 
226  ;  name  of  college  of,  changed,  227 ; 
arrival  of  Franklin  in,  183,  253,  254, 
264 ;  library  company  established, 
2.55  ;  Franklin  postmaster  of,  258 ; 
Wolf  collector  of,  360 ;  riots  in  388 ; 
people  of,  favor  building  Pennsylvania 
Railroad,  417 ;  Councils  of,  give  recep- 
tion to  Cnrtin  ;  citizens  of,  give  banquet 
to  Curtin  ;  Republican  convention  at, 
464. 

Philippe,  Louis,  374. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  President,  472,  475. 

Pieterson,  Evert,  first  schoolmaster  on 
the  Delaware,  45. 

Pitt,  Fort,  attacked  by  Indians,  167, 168 ; 
succored  by  Colonel  Boquet,  168 ;  oc- 
cupied by  Connolly  in  name  of  Lord 
Dunmore,  180. 

Pitt,  William,  at  head  of  British  Minis- 
try, 162. 

Pittsburg,  Governor  of  Virginia  lays 
claim  to,  180;  death  of  Mrs.  Findlay 
at,  332 ;  people  of,  oppose  building  of 
Pennsylvania  Railroad,  417;  referred 
to,  467,  468,  469. 

PI  a  i  sauce,  Duke  de,  233. 

Pollock,  James,  birth  of;  ancestry,  424; 
education  ;  graduates  at  Princeton ; 
receives  honorary  degrees  ;  studies  and 
practises  law ;  district  attorney ;  mar- 
ries ;  member  gf  Congress ;  member  of 
important  committees,  425;  takes 
leading  part  in  first  favorable  action 
by  Congress  on  Pacific  Railroad,  426; 
'delivers  lecture  on  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road ;  makes  prophetic  announcement; 
appointed  president  judge,  427 ;  elected 
Governor ;  inaugurated  ;  inaugural  ad- 
dress, quoted,  428;  message,  quoted, 
429 ;  measures  of  administration  ;  calls 
extra  session  of  the  Legislature,  430 ; 
recommends  suspension  of  specie  pay- 
ments for  a  definite  period  ;  resumes 
the  practice  of  his  profession;  im- 
pressive leave-taking  of;  a  member  of 
Peace  Conference;  appointed  director 
of  the  U.  S.  Mint ;  resigns  on  accession 
of  Johnson,  431 ;  has  motto  "In  God 
we  trust "  placed  upon  national  coins ; 
true  to  the  Union ;  appearance  and 
manner,  432 ;  Curtin  labors  for;  ap- 
points Curtin  secretary  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, 452. 

Pollock,  William,  father  of  Governor; 
Sarah,  mother  of  Governor,  424. 

Polk,  James  K.,  President,  468,  469. 

Pontiac,  chief  of  the  Ottowas;  conspi- 
racy of,  167. 

Pope,  Major-Gcneral  John,  477. 


INDEX. 


549 


Porter,  David  Rittenhouse,  birth,  379 ; 
ancestjy,  379,  380 ;  education  ;  clerk  ; 
studies  law ;  manager  of  iron  works ; 
embarks  in  the  manufacture  of  iron, 
381 ;  member  of  Assembly ;  prothon- 
otary,  register,  &c. ;  marries ;  gives  at- 
tention to  agriculture,  382;  member 
of  State  Senate;  elected  Governor; 
inaugurated,  383 ;  extracts  from  inau- 
gural address  of,  384 ;  message  on  pub- 
lic improvements,  385  ;  firm  reply  of,  to 
inquiry  of  the  Senate,  386 ;  list  of  judges 
appointed  by,  387 ;  appoints  bhuuk 
superintendent  of  common  schools; 
suppresses  riots  in  Philadelphia ;  re- 
ceives thanks  of  City  Councils ;  retires 
from  public  life ;  resumes  manufacture 
of  iron ;  erects  first  anthracite  furnace 
in  Middle  Pennsylvania,  388  ;  charac- 
teristics ;  friend  of  Buchanan ;  inti- 
mate with  Gen.  Sam.  Houston,  389  ; 
visits  Texas;  sustains  the  government 
during  the  war;  joins  in  military 
drill,  390;  death,  391 ;  appoints  Shuiik 
secretary  of  State,  393. 

Porter,  P*jbert,  grandfather  of  David  R., 
379 

Porter,  Rev.  J.L.,  [D.D.,  LL.D.,]  author, 
379. 

Porter,  Andrew,  father  of  David  R. ; 
attracts  attention  of  Rittenhouse ; 
opens  English  and  mathematical 
school ;  captain  of  marines ;  colonel 
of  Fourth  ArtUlery ;  battles  of,  379  ; 
thanked  by  Washington  at  Princeton ; 
prepares  material  for  siege  of  York- 
tow/i ;  declines  chair  in  the  University; 
on  boundary  survey ;  appointed  sur- 
veyor-General;  declines  appointment 
of  origadier-general  and  secretary  of 
war,  380. 

Porter,  Robert ;  William ;  Andrew ; 
John  E.,  380;  George  B. ;  James  M., 
380,  383 ;  General  Horace,  390. 

Potter,  William  W.,  451. 

Potter  County,  438. 

Presbyterian,  Governor  Findlay  a,  332. 

Presque  Isle,  fort  at,  149,  troops  from, 
routed  at  Niagara,  163 ;  captured  by 
Indians,  167. 

Prideaux,  General,  invests  Fort  Niagara ; 
killed  ;  succeeded  by  Sir  William  John- 
son, 163. 

Prince  Hendrick,  Dutch  name  for  Dela- 
ware River,  18. 

Princeton,  abandoned  by  Washington, 
196 ;  British  reserves  attacked  by 
Washington  at,  199  ;  college  at,  425. 

Printz,  John,  succeeds  Hollandaer;  in- 
structions of;  arrives  at  Fort  Chris- 
tina ;  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  cavalry; 
selects  site  for  fort ;  builds  palace,  32  ; 
Pappegoya  commended  to ;  instructions 


of,  33 ;  builds  frame  building  in  front 
of  Dutch  fort ;  Stuyyesant  negotiates 
with ;  draws  up  writing,  34 ;  protests 
to  Stuyvesant ;  has  friendly  conference 
with  Stuyvesaut;  asks  to  be  relieved 
of  government ;  sets  sail  for  Swe- 
den; administration  unsuccessful,  35; 
described  by  De  Vries,  35,  36;  has 
farm  upon  island  of  Tinicum ;  leaves 
farm  to  his  daughter,  the  wife  of  Pap- 
pegoya ;  resignation  accepted ;  urged  to 
remain  until  a  successor  could  be  pro- 
vided ;  successor  not  invested  with  the 
absolute  powers  of,  36. 

Proprietors,  John,  Thomas,  and  Richard 
Penn,  expenses  of  certain  treaties  to  be 
borne  by,  133 ;  Governor  Gordon  re- 
ceives new  Commission  from  ;  William 
Penn's  estate  descends  to,  134;  Gov- 
ernor Thomas  devoted  to,  145 ;  renounce 
the  Quaker  faith  ;  send  cannon  to  the 
Delaware :  hold  controversy  with  the 
Assembly,  151 ;  forbid  approval  of 
money  bills  unless  interest  at  their  dis- 
posal, 152;  contribute  five  thousand 
pounds  for  defence,  158;  instructions 
of,  to  Governor  Denny,  160 ;  Franklin 
in  controversy  with ;  send  message  to 
Assembly,  164 ;  estates  of,  taxed ;  of- 
fended b'y  Gov.  Denny,  and  recall  him, 
165  ;  agreement  between  Franklin  and, 
concerning  assessments,  misinterpreted; 
course  of,  condemned,  171 ;  oppose 
Franklin  going  to  court  as  agent,  173 ; 
remonstrate  against  claims  of  the  Sus- 
quehanna  Company;  purchase  lands 
of  the  Indians ;  lay  out  Wyoming  ter- 
ritory into  manors,  176 ;  government  o{, 
superseded  ;  value  of  estate ;  act  vest- 
ing estate  of,  in  the  Commonwealth ; 
annuity  to  descendants;  sum  paid  to, 
by  the 'State,  193. 

Provinces,  the  Southern,  Keitk  surveyor 
of  customs  of,  125. 

Province  Island,  Indians  removed  to, 
170. 

Proud,  Robert,  the  historian,  quoted, 
138. 

Putnam,,  General,  commands  in  Phila- 
delphia, 197,  280;  fortifies  Red  Bank; 
rejoins  the  army ;  succeeded  by  Gen- 
eral Irvine,  199  ;  informs  Congress  of 
movements  of  the  enemy,  200. 

Pyle's  Ford,  Philadelphia  militia  posted 
at,  202. 

Quakers.    See  Friends. 

Quebec,  capture  of,  164;  forces  at,  166. 

Rahl,  Colonel,  Hessian  leader,  captured 

ftt  Trenton,  198. 
Railroad,  Allegheny  Valley,  The,  412; 

Susquehanna,  The,  440,  441 ;  Pennsyi- 


550 


INDEX. 


vania,  The,  440;  York  and  Cumber- 
land, The,  440,  441 ;  Northern  Central, 
The,  441;  Lake  Shore,  The,  442; 
Baltimore  and  Susquehanna,  The, 
441  ;  Green  River;  Alleghany  Portage, 
468;  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  417,  418; 
Tyrone  and  Clearfield,  419 ;  Philadel- 
phia and  Erie,  419,  421 ;  Pacific,  426, 
427 ;  Pennsylvania  Central,  opposition 
chartering  the;  advocated  by  Bigler, 
417,  418 ;  public  works  sold  to,  430. 

Ram  bo,  Peter,  to  be  councillor,  53 ;  pro- 
ceeds to  New  York  to  have  sale  of 
liquor  to  the  Indians  prohibited,  54 ; 
Indian  conference  held  at  house  of,  55. 

Randolph,  Peyton,  President  of  first  Con- 
gress, 183.  « 

Ranelagh,  Lord,  aids  Penn  in  having  his 
Province  restored  to  him,  113. 

Raritan  Bay,  British  Admiral  takes  shel- 
ter in,  207. 

Raritan  River,  British  encamp  on  the, 
199. 

Rawdon,  Lord,  in  Philadelphia,  204. 

Rawn,  Elizabeth,  mother  of  Governor 
Shunk ;  Casper ;  Barbara,  392. 

Rawle,  Dr.  William,  biography  of  Mif- 
flin,  quoted,  274,  276,  281,  288. 

Read,  Miss,  marries  Franklin,  253. 

Reading,  troops  quartered  on  inhabitants 
of,  163 ;  military  stores  at,  203 ;  village 
of,  334;  Governor  Hiester  buried  at, 
341. 

Red  Bank  fortified,  199 ;  works  at,  de- 
clared useless,  200;  Fort  Mercer  at, 
attacked,  205. 

Reed,  Joseph,  president  second  Pro- 
vincial Convention,  184,  217  ,',  elected 
president  of  Supreme  Executive  Coun- 
cil ;  birth  of;  education ;  studies  law, 
216 ;  goes  to  England ;  enters  as  stu- 
dent in  Middle  Temple ;  practises  law ; 
again  visits  England;  marriage  of; 
resides  in  Philadelphia;  takes  active 
part  in  popular  movements ;  on  com- 
mittee of  correspondence;  Washing- 
ton's secretary,  217 ;  Irving's  account 
of,  217,  218,  219  ;  chairman  committee 
of  safety ;  member  of  the  Assembly ; 
adjutant-general ;  meets  flag  of  truce ; 
action  of,  concerning  title  of  Washing- 
ton, approved,  219  ;  coolness  of  Wash- 
ington to ;  writes  to  Washington,  220 ; 
campaign  in  New  Jersey ;  recommend- 
ed by  Washington  for  command  of  the 
cavalry ;  declines  appointment  of 
brigadier-general,  221 ;  declines  ap- 
pointment of  chief-justice  ;  elected  to 
Congress;  declines  appointment  of 
commissioner  of  Indian  affairs;  de- 
clines as  member  of  Assembly  ;  elect- 
ed member  of  Council  and  president, 
272 ;  message  on  the  abolition  of  sla- 


very, 223 ;  takes  active  part  against 
Arnold ;  charges  against,  2€5 ;  reply 
to  Johnstone's  offer  of  a  bribe ;  dis- 
perses rioters,  226  ;  invested  with  ex- 
traordinary powers ;  letter  of  Washing- 
ton to,  227  ;  meets  body  of  mutineers; 
takes  the  field  at  head  of  militia;  ex- 
piration of  term,  228  ;  on  commission 
to  settle  Wyoming  controversy  ;  argu- 
ment of,  before  the  commission;  death 
of  wife ;  visits  England ;  returns ; 
chosen  member  of  Congress;  death  of ; 
dying  words,  229. 

Ree'd,  Andrew,  father  of  President,  216. 

Reed,  Maria  J.,  marries  William  Bigler; 
Alexander  B.,  415  ;  Judge,  451. 

Reeves,  Peter,  Cornwallis  at  house  of, 
204. 

Republicans  in  the  ascendant,  325  ;  the 
Independent,  support  Gregg  for  Gov- 
ernor, 343. 

Republican  party,  branch  of,  styled  Old 
School  Men ;  select  Joseph  Hiester  as 
candidate  for  Governor,  328,  329; 
gain  ascendency  in  Legislature,  330; 
principles  of;  formation  of;  dissolu- 
tion of,  343. 

Reserves,  The  Pennsylvania,  organized, 
460. 

Resolution,  attempt  to  pass,  requiring  all 
laws  to  be  referred  to  the  king,  134, 
135. 

Revolution,  The,  first  blood  spilled  in, 
184  ;  Whigs  espouse,  334. 

Rhoads,  Samuel,  delegate  to  Congress,  183. 

Rhode  Island,  religious  liberty  in,  81 ; 
action  of,  in  reference  to  taxation,  173. 

Riley,  Brigadier-General,  470. 

Ripley/General  victories  of,  315. 

Ritner,  Joseph,  birth  of;  receives  but  six 
months  scnooling ;  removes  to  Cumber- 
land County ;  labors  on  a  farm  ;  mar- 
ries; children  of;  removes  to  West- 
moreland County ;  settles  in  Wrashing- 
ton  County,  361 ;  great  reader ;  elected 
to  the  House  and  made  speaker ;  nom- 
inated for  Governor ;  defeated ;  elected 
Governor,  362,  437  ;  preserves  school 
system,  363 ;  anecdote  of;  visits  nor- 
mal school  as  inspector;  speech  of, 
366;  message  of,  on  school  system, 
367 ;  tribute  to ;  messages  on  slavery, 
368 ;  tribute  of  Whittier  to,  369  ;  re- 
nominated  for  Governor  and  defeated  ; 
causes  of  defeat  of,  370;  action  of, 
during  the  Anti-Masonic  excitement, 
373 ;  returns  to  private  life ;  resides  in 
Cumberland  County ;  becomes  blind ; 
sight  of  right  eye  restored ;  appointed 
director  of  U.  "S.  Mint ;  delegate  tc 
National  Convention,  374 ;  ardent  Re- 
publican ;  great  memory ;  death,  375 
elected  by  a  coalition,  436,  437. 


INDEX. 


551 


Eltner,  John,  father  of  Governor,  361. 

RittenhouSe,  Thomas,  chairman  Council 
of  Safety,  193. 

Rittenhouse,  David,  astronomer,  379, 
380. 

River,  Alleghany,  French  establish  trad- 
ing-posts on,  134,  146 ;  Shawanese  In- 
dians on,  summoned  to  Philadelphia, 
134;  Washington  ascends,  149;  In- 
dian town  Kittanning,  on  the,  de- 
stroyed, 161. 

River,  Connecticut,  The,  and  Delaware, 
territory  between,  51. 

River,  Delaware,  The,  Stuyvesant  ordered 
to  drive  Swedes  from;  Van  Elswyck 
sent  to,  40  ;  travellers  on,  42 ;  Stuyve- 
eant's  operations  on,  concluded;  Jac- 
quet  Vice-Director  on,  43  ;  land  south 
of,  sold,  44 ;  first  school  on,  45 ;  distress 
upon ;  English  plea  of  discovery  of; 
•  soldiers  sent  to  ;  revenues  from  settle- 
ments on,  47 ;  land  on  east  side  of, 
transferred ;  rich  valleys  along,  48 ; 
government  of  settlements  on  ;  Swedish 
company  lose  possessions  on ;  transfer 
of  settlements  on,  49 ;  territory  between, 
and  Connecticut,  51 ;  Washington 
crosses  to  west  bank  of,  196 ;  Washing- 
ton crosses,  198. 

River,  Hudson,  The,  march  of  colonists 
towards,  50. 

River,  Ohio,  French  establish  trading- 
posts  on,  134,  146 ;  French  bury  pieces 
of  copper  along,  149  ;  French  claim  ter- 
ritory on  the,  and  tributaries,  150  ;  In- 
dians form  league  with  Pontiac,  167. 

River,  South,  The,  Beekman  commissary 
on,  46. 

River,  Schuylkill,  The,  lands  near,  pur- 
chased of  the  Indians,  88;  fete  on 
banks  of,  in  honor  of  repeal  of  Stamp 
Act,  174. 

Roberts,  Colonel,  commands  regiment  in 
Mexican  war,  468,  469. 

Robinson,  Patrick,  clerk  of  court,  voted 
a  public  enemy,  103. 

Robinson,  Rev.  T.  H.,  331. 

Rochester,  Lord,  aids  Penn  in  having  his 
Province  restored  to  him,  113. 

Rodney,  Csesar,  tribute  of  John  Adams 
to,  306. 

Rogers,  Judge  Moulton  C.,  380. 

Ross,  George,  delegate  to  Congress,  183 ; 
signs  Declaration,  187. 

Ross,  James,  candidate  for  Governor 
against  Snyder,  310. 

Ross,  General,  captures  Washington; 
burns  Capitol  and  President's  house; 
killed,  315. 

Ross,  Hon.  John,  350;  Michael,  435. 

Rush,  Benjamin,  appointed  delegate  to 
Congress ;  signs  Declaration,  187. 

Russia,  Curtin,  Minister  to,  464. 


Russell,  Jonathan,  Commissioner  at 
treaty  of  Ghent ;  describes  prison-ship 
Jersey,  337. 

Rutledge,  John,  245,  291. 

Rysingh,  John  Claude,  secretary  to 
Chamber  of  Commerce ;  commissioned 
vice-director  of  New  Sweden ;  sails  in 
ship  Aren  ;  arrives  in  Colony;  not  in- 
vested with  absolute  powers,  36;  di- 
rector of  Council;  to  use  mild  meas- 
ures with  the  Dutch ;  assumes  the  of- 
fensive ;  takes  Fort  Casimir ;  conduct 
defended,  37 ;  assumes  the  title  of  di- 
rector-general ;  calls  Indian  council ; 
distributes  presents  to  the  Indians,  38 ; 
letter  of;  wants  a  good  wife,  39 ;  re- 
quested by  gtuyvesant  to  repair  to 
Manhattan  ;  declines  to  listen  ;  corre- 
spondence with  Van  Elswyck,  40 ;  re- 
monstrance of,  41. 

Salem,  families  settle  at,  59. 

Salem  Creek,  English  settle  near  mouth 
of,  31 ;  party  at,  driven  away,  32 ;  fort 
erected  near  mouth  of,  33. 

Sandusky,  Fort,  captured  by  Indians, 
167. 

San  Francisco,  469,  470,  471,  472. 

Saratoga,  battles  at;  surrender  of  Bur- 
goyne  at,  203. 

School,  the  first  on  the  Delaware,  45; 
free,  the  first  in  the  Province,  106. 

Schools,  common,  the  system  of,  inaugu- 
rated, 353,  361 ;  Burrowes  superintend- 
ent of,  366;  message  of  Ritner  on, 
367;  Shunk  superintendent  of,  388; 
Curtin  ex-officio  superintendent  of; 
improvements  in,  recommended,  452, 
455  ;  Hickok,  deputy  superintendent 
of,  453. 

Schout  Fiscal,  duties  of,  22. 

Schute,  Swen,  in  command  of  Fort  Casi- 
mir, 41. 

Scott,  General,  victories  of,  315 ;  452, 
468. 

Schuylkill,  the  river,  beginning  of  set- 
tlement on,  31 ;  intruders  on,  routed, 
32 ;  claimed  by  the  Swedes,  33 ;  land 
acquired,  and  fort  erected  near  the 
mouth  of,  by  the  Dutch,  34 ;  Governor 
Keith  met  at  passage  of,  by  citizens, 
129. 

Schuyler,  General  Philip,  in  command 
of  Philadelphia,  200. 

Scott,  John,  father  of  U.  S.  Senator, 
382. 

Scott,  Mrs.  Mary  Slough,  marries  Gov- 
ernor Snvder,  321. 

Scotch-Irish  settle  in  Cumberland  Val- 
lev  324. 

Scudder,  Dr.,  359. 

Seal,  The  Great,  Lloyd  keeper  of,  89, 
101 ;  appointments  under,  104. 


552 


INDEX. 


Selinsgrove,  Simon1  Snyder  removes  to, 
309,  320. 

Senate  of  the  United  States,  Governor 
Findlay  elected  to,  330. 

Senate,  State,  Shulze  elected  to,  345 ; 
proceedings  of,  during  the  Anti-Ma- 
sonic excitement,  372,  373;  Porter 
member  of,  383 ;  Johnston  president 
of,  405 ;  Bigler  member  and  speaker 
of,  416, 417  ;  majority  of  Whigs  in,  438. 

Sergeant,  John,  345. 

Sergeants,  Board  of,  in  command  of  re- 
volting soldiers,  228. 

Sherman,  General  Wm.  T.,  his  march  to 
the  sea,  483. 

Bhenandoah,  River,  difficulty  between 
Indians  on,  and  those  on  the  Susque- 
hanna,  128  ;  Valley,  323. 

Ship  Welcome,  Penn  embarks  in,  for 
America  ;  passengers  on,  die  of  small- 
pox, 82. 

Shippen,  Edward,  president  of  Council, 
117 ;  chief-justice,  224 ;  impeached,  326. 

Shippen,  Margaret,  daughter  of  chief- 
justice  ;  marries  Arnold,  224. 

Shippensburg,  outpost  of  civilization 
during  Indian  war,  167. 

Shulze,  John  Andrew,  birth  of;  educa- 
tion; ordained  a  minister;  officiates 
as  pastor ;  retires  from  the  ministry ;  en- 
ters the  mercantile  business ;  member 
of  the  Assembly,  344  ;  a  Republican  ; 
appointed  surveyor  -  general,  but  de- 
clines; appointed  register,  recorder, 
<fec. ;  again  elected  to  the  Assembly; 
chosen  State  Senator;  elected  Governor; 
large  majority  of;  administration,  345  ; 
welcomes  Lafayette  ;  extract  from  mes- 
sage on  majority  rule,  346  ;  scholastic 
culture  of,  347  ;  messages  on  education, 
348,  249  ;  engages  in  agricultural  pur- 
suits ;  senatorial  delegate  to  National 
Convention;  president  of  Electoral 
College;  removes  to  Lancaster;  death, 
349. 

Shunk,  Francis  Rawn,  death  of  Gov- 
ernor Findlay  at  residence  of,  330; 
clerk  in  surveyor-general's  office,  381, 
393 ;  superintendent  of  common 
schools,  388  ;  birth ;  ancestry,  392  ; 
early  life ;  education  ;  teaches  school ; 
studies  law ;  marches  to  the  defence 
of  Baltimore;  cJerk  of 'the  House; 
secretary  Board  of  Canal  Commission- 
ers ;  secretary  of  State ;  removes  to 
Pittsburg,  and  practises  law,  393 ; 
elected  Governor ;  re-elected  ;  illness, 
394,  406 ;  resigns  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor, 394 ;  character  and  administra- 
tion of,  395-402. 

Shunk,  John,  father  of  Francis  R.,  392. 

Shunk,  Francis,  grandfather  of  Francis 
R.,  392. 


Sidney,  Lord,  aids  Penn  in  having  his 
Province  restored  to  him,  113. 

Simcock,  John,  appointed  one  of  five 
commissioners,  103. 

Six  Nations.    See  Indians. 

Slavery,  Bryan  on  abolition  of,  213,  214  ; 
Reed  On  abolition  of;  nbolished  in  the 
State,  223 ;  message  of  Governor  Find- 
lay  on,  331 ;  in  gubernatorial  canvass, 
419. 

Slaves,  negro,  early  introduction  '  of; 
Beekrnan  and  D'Hinoyossa  apply  for, 
48  ;  Mrs.  Geary  manumits,  4(>7. 

Slocum,  General  Henry  W.,  477,  480. 

Smidt,  Derek,  herald  to  demand  surren- 
der of  Fort  Casimir ;  Schout  -  Fiscal 
and  chief  agent  on  the  Delaware,  43. 

Smith,  Ann,  alias  Carson,  schemes  to  ab- 
duct Governor  Snyder's  son,  320. 

Smith,  George,  [M.  D.,]  History  of  Dela- 
wai£  County,  quoted,  45 ;  chairman 
joint  committee  on  education ;  draws 
bill  in  Legislature  remodelling  the 
school  system,  365. 

Smith,  James,  delegate  in  Congress; 
signs  Declaration,  187. 

Smith,  Jane,  mother  of  Gdvernor  Find- 
lay,  323. 

Smith,  Jonathan  B.,  delegate  in  Con- 
gress ;  resigns,  222. 

Smith,  Matthew,  pleads  cause  of  Paxton 
Boys,  170;  vice-president  of  Council, 
216. 

Smith,  Thomas,  judge  of  supreme  court ; 
impeached,  326. 

Smith,  Samuel,  sheriff  of  Lancaster 
County,  resists  Maryland  invaders, 
137. 

Smith,  Dr.  William,  provost  of  Phila- 
delphia College ;  hostile  to  Indepen- 
dence, 226  ;  removed  from  head  of  col- 

k,rf>     '>97 
ge,  aAi . 

Snyder,  Anthony,  father  of  Simon,  308 ; 
Frederick,  320. 

Snyder  County,  taken  from  Northumber- 
land, 309. 

Somers,  Lord,  aids  Penn  in  having  his 
Province  restored  to  him,  113. 

Snyder,  Simon,  born  at  Lancaster ;  re- 
moves to  York;  learns  business  of  a 
tanner  and  currier;  attends  night 
school,  308 ;  removes  to  Selinsgrove; 
opens  a  store ;  employed  as  a  scrivener ; 
elected  justice  of  the  peace ;  decisions 
respected ;  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention;  member  01  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  speaker, 
309;  advocate  of  the  Hundred  Dollar 
Act ;  nominated  for  Governor,  but  de- 
feated; elected  Governor;  re  elected ; 
in  conflict  with  the  national  authority 
in  the  Umstead  case,  310;  transmits 
proceedings  of  Legislature  in  the  case 


INDEX. 


553 


to  President  Madison ;  Madison's  re- 
ply to,  311 ;  extract  from  message, 
giving  statement  of  the  case,  312 ;  ex- 
citing events  during  the  administra- 
tion of,  313,  316  ;  aids  war  measures ; 
extract  from  first  inaugural  address  ; 
abolishes  custom  of  delivering  annual 
messages  to  the  Legislature  in  person, 
317;  the  first  Governor  to  protest 
against  slavery ;  extract  from  message 
on  the  subject  of  slavery,  318;  inci- 
dent of  goodness  of  heart  of,  318,  319  ; 
vetoes  bill  chartering  Forty  Banks, 
319,  320,  328  ;  attempted  abduction  of 
son ;  chosen  to  the  State  Senate ; 
death  of;  domestic  afflictions  of; 
three  times  married,  320 ;  names  of 
wives ;  closing  paragraph  of  last  an- 
nual message,  321 ;  appoints  Shulze 
surveyor-general,  345. 

South  Carolina,  Governor  of,  leads  mi- 
litia against  Cherokee  Indians,  166 ; 
passes  Nullification  Act,  359  ;  seces- 
sion of,  447. 

South  River,  18. 

Sparks,  Jared,  the  historian,  quoted,  266. 

Spain,  war  between,  and  Great  Britain, 
142 ;  joined  by  France  in  war  against 
England,  166. 

Springett,  Sir  William,  father  of  Penn's 
wife ;  killed  at  siege  of  Bamber,  76. 

Springett,  Gulielma  Maria,  marries 
Penn  ;  daughter  of  Sir  William  Sprin- 
gett ;  beautiful  and  sweet-tempered,  76  ; 
love  for  Penn,  76,  77. 

St.  Clair,  General  Arthur,  escapes  from 
Fort  Ticonderoga  with  garrison,  203; 
letter  of  President  Wharton  to,  209 ; 
candidate  for  Governor ;  military  repu- 
tation, 287. 

St.  John,  Hector,  work  of,  quoted,  266. 

St.  Josephs,  Fort,  captured  by  Indians, 
167. 

St.  PieiTe,  Legardeau  de,  French  com- 
mandant at  Fort  Le  Boeuf;  meets 
Washington,  149 ;  answers  remon- 
strances of  Washington,  150. 

Stamp  Act,  passed  ;  excites  intense  oppo- 
sition in  the  Colonies,  173,  235  ;  action 
of  people  in  reference  to  the ;  repealed  ; 
joy  over  repeal  of  the,  174,  26,1. 

Stamper,  Sarah,  marries  Colonel  Moore, 
233. 

Stanwix,  General,  commands  Southern 
Department ;  keeps  guard  on  frontier, 
163. 

State.    See  Pennsylvania. 

S'ate  House,  at  Philadelphia,  dinner  at, 
to  Governor  Denny,  160. 

States  General,  grant  a  charter;  pass 
edict,  19  ;  edict  of,  expires  ;  branch  of 
West  India  Company  named  by,  20  ; 
ratify  sale  of  land  on  the  Delaware,  44. 


Stenton,  near  Germantown,  country-seat 
of  James  Logan,  139. 

Stevens,  Thaddeus,  great  speech  of,  on 
common  school  system,  3(i3,  364  ;  bitter 
opponent  of  Governor  Wolf,  364 ;  an- 
ecdote of,  365. 

Stock,  Ensign,  seizes  farm  of  Peter  Al- 
richs,  52. 

Stockholm,  bricks  from,  32 ;  Indian  deeds 
recorded  at,  39. 

Stockton.  Richard,  of  New  Jersey ;  Reed 
studies  law  with  ;  signer  of  the  Decla- 
ration, 216. 

Stoork,  the  ship,  32. 

Straits  of  Magellan,  21. 

Stuyvesant,  Peter,  succeeds  to  Director- 
snip  of  New  Netherlands;  dominions 
threatened  ;  recommends  measure  to 
West  India  Company,  34  ;  sails  to  the 
Delaware  and  negotiates  with  Printz, 
34,  35 ;  complaints  to,  against  the 
Swedes;  acquires  title  to  lands  from 
the  Indians;  erects  Fort  Casimir  ;  has 
friendly  conference  with  Printz  ;  Printz 
overreached  by,  35 ;  ordered  to  drive 
Swedes  from  the  Delaware ;  held  Swe- 
dish ship  as  reprisal ;  five  armed,  ves- 
sels sent  to ;  collects  men  and  sails  to 
the  Delaware ;  seizes  Fort  Elsirborg, 
40;  demands  surrender  of  Fort  Casi- 
mir ;  besieges  Fort  Casimir ;  Rysingh 
remonstrates  with ;  requires  Swedes 
and  Finns  to  take  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  Dutch,  41 ;  hastens  to  the  Hudson 
to  punish  savages ;  leaves  Derek  Smidt 
in  command  on  the  Delaware;  com- 
mander of  ship  Mercury  referred  to, 
43,  44 ;  orders  ship  to  Manhattan,  44 ; 
invites  Swedes  to  settle  in  one  village ; 
Governors  of  colonies  on  Delaware 
under  supervision  of;  Alrichs  and  Van 
Dyck  seek  advice  of;  visits  colony ; 
met  by  Van  Dyck  and  Swedish  citi- 
zens ;  purpose  in  visiting  Colony,  45 ; 
resists  demand  of  Lord  Baltimore  to 
surrender  territory ;  sends  company  of 
soldiers  to  the  Delaware,  47  ;  protests 
against  encroachments  of  New  England 
Colonies  ;  visits  Boston,  50 ;  surrenders 
to  the  English,  52. 

Sullivan  County,  439. 

Sullivan,  General,  at  battle  of  Brandy- 
wine,  202 ;  militia  flock  to  standard  of, 
212. 

Sullivan's  Island,  attacked  by  British, 
195. 

Sumter,  Fort,  assault  upon,  476. 

Sunbury,  434,  440,  441. 

Supreme  Executive  Council,  organizes ; 
title  to  President  of,  199. 

Susquehanna  Company,  settle  in  Wvo- 
mmg  Valley;  troubles  produced  Dy, 
176. 


554 


INDEX. 


Susquehanna,  River,  difficulty  between 
Indians  on  and  those  on  the  Shenan- 
doah,  128 ;  number  of  men  bearing 
arms  west  of,  158 ;  McKean's  family  on 
banks  of,  298  ;  valley  of  the,  440. 

Sussex,  Penn's  house  at,  82 ;  McKean 
Deputy  Attorney -General  for  county 
of,  290. 

Swanendael,  lands  named ;  settlers  at, 
massacred  by  the  Indians,  24 ;  ship  at, 
26 ;  party  at,  take  seven  whales,  27 ; 
colony  at.  34. 

Sweden,  New,  expense  of  expedition 
against,  44. 

Sweden,  King  of,  29 ;  people  of,  fore- 
most of  nations,  30 ;  ships  dispatched 
for,  31 ;  warring  power,  40. 

Swedish  West  India  Company,  incorpo- 
rated, 29  ;  charter  renewed! ;  benefits 
extended  to  Germany,  30 ;  College  of 
Commerce  sends  Amundson  to  the  Del- 
aware, 36. 

Swedes,  company  of,  sail  under  Minuit, 
30 ;  monopolize  trade ;  western  bank 
of  Delaware  and  Schuylkill  claimed 
by,  33 ;  troubles  with  the  Dutch  on  the 
Delaware,  34 ;  lawless  conduct  of,  35 ; 
ill-treat  natives,  38 ;  feeble  on  the  Del- 
aware, 39;  gain  advantage  in  capture 
of  Fort  Casimir;  order  to  drive  from 
the  Delaware,  40 ;  take  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  Dutch  ;  power  ends  in  the 
New  World ;  descendants  of,  41 ;  colo- 
nists, number,  at  surrender ;  at  peace 
with  natives;  love  for  Sweden ;  at  Stock- 
holm ;  children  well  instructed,  42 ; 
the,  of  the  Company's  Colony,  44 ; 
invited  to  assemble  in  one  village; 
in  Nieuer  Amstel ;  renew  oath  of  alle- 
giance, 45 ;  fit  out  fleet  to  punish  the 
Dutch,  but  project  abandoned,  49. 

Taminend,    the     Indian     Sachem,    83 ; 

rech  of,  at  "  Great  Treaty,"  84 ;  signs 
d  for  lands  purchased,  88. 

Tariff,  debates  on,  360. 

Taylor,  George,  delegate  in  Congress ; 
signs  Declaration,  187. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  President,  appoints 
Ritner  Director  of  the  Mint ;  death  of, 
374. 

Taylorsville,  where  Washington  crosses 
the  Delaware,  198. 

Tecumseh,  Indian  chief,  victory  over, 
314;  killed,  315. 

Tennant,  Rev.  Gilbert,  sermons  of,  made 
into  cartridges,  211. 

Territories,  or  Lower  Counties,  repre- 
sentatives meet  in  Assembly,  86 ;  mem- 
bers from,  withdraw  from  Council, 
105 ;  article  in  new  constitution  allow- 
ing for  dissolving  union  with  Province, 
115;  final  separation  of,  from  the 


Province,  117 ;  effort  of  Governor 
Evans  to  restore  union  of,  with  Prov- 
ince ;  reunion  opposed  by  Assembly ; 
erected  into  the  State  of  Delaware, 
118 ;  the  king  reserves  right  to  govern, 
134;  Lord  Baltimore  lays  claim  to, 
141 ;  McKean  notary  public  of,  293. 

Thomas,  George,  a  planter  of  Antigua; 
appointed  Deputy  Governor ;  detained 
in  London ;  meets  the  Assembly ; 
first  business  attended  to ;  effort  to  or- 
ganize the  militia,  142;  differs  with 
the  Assembly ;  misjudges  the  Quaker 
faith  ;  directed  to  call  for  volunteers  ; 
refuses  to  sign  appropriation  bill ;  con- 
tentions with  Assembly  increase,  143  ; 
Assembly  refuse  to  vote  salary  to ;  of 
headstrong  nature ;  appeals  to  the 
people ;  riots  incited  in  the  interest  of; 
adopts  conciliatory  policy  ;  Assembly 
vote  arrearages  of  salary  to ;  calls  for 
volunteers ;  communicates  the  death 
of  John  Penn  to  the  Assembly,  144  ; 
resigns  on  account  of  declining  Health  ; 
resignation  of,  received  with  regret ; 
estimate  of  his  character  by  Gordon, 
145 ;  departs  for  Europe,  146 ;  has 
twenty-one  children  by  first  wife,  of 
whom  all  die  of  consumption ;  de- 
scendants by  second  wife  in  Philadel- 
phia ;  death  of,  148. 

Thomas,  General,  forces  under,  fortify 
Dorchester  Heights,  195. 

Thompson,  Charles,  master  of  Quaker 
free  school  at  Philadelphia ;  secretary 
of  Congress,  162,  183 ;  secretary  to  the 
Indians  at  conference  at  Easton,  162  ; 
secretary  of  general  conference,  182. 

Ticonderoga,  Fort,  erected  by  the  French ; 
repulse  of  Abercrombie  at ;  captured 
by  Amherst,  163;  captured  by  Ameri- 
cans, 185 ;  captured  by  Burgoyne ;  gar- 
rison escapes,  203. 

Tienpont,  Joriz,  second  in  command  of 
ship,  21. 

Tinicum  Island,  Printz  builds  fort  and 
palace  on,  32 ;  protests  between  Nas- 

*  sau  and,  33 ;  Indian  council  on ;  seat  of 
government  on,  38. 

Tom,  William,  sent  to  the  Delaware,  58. 

Townsend,  Charles,  boast  of,  as  to  draw- 
ing revenue  from  Colonies,  174. 

Trappe,  Shunk  born  at  the,  392,  402. 

Treasury,  Wolf  appointed  Comptroller 
of,  360. 

Treaty,  The  Great,  time  held ;  tribes  of 
Indians  at ;  West's  picture  of,  referred 
to,  83;  speech  of  Indian  Sachem  at, 
84.  . 

Trenchard,  Sir  John,  aids  Penn  in  having 
his  Province  restored  to  him,  113. 

Trenton,  Falls  near,  30;  abandoned  by 
Washington,  196;  Hessian  troops  at, 


INDEX. 


555 


captured  by  Washington,  197, 198, 280 ; 

cannon  from,  tired,  199 ;  commissioners 

to  settle  Wyoming  controversy  meet  at, 

229. 

Tricho,  Catelino,  testimony  of,  21. 
Trornp,  Dutch  commander,  battles  of,  56. 
Trumbull,  Colonel  Joseph,  member  Board 

of  War,  281. 
Trumbull's  Ford,  on  the   Brandywine; 

General  Howe  crosses,  202. 
Turner,   Robert,  commissioner  of  land 

office,  102 ;  one  of  five  commisioners, 

103. 
Twickenham,  in   Montgomery  County; 

country-seat    of    President  Wharton ; 

skirmish  at,  210. 

Umstead,  Gideon,  claims  prize-money ; 
claim  of,  bought  by  Arnold  ;  case  of, 
the  cause  of  conflict  between  State  and 
National  authority,  311,  312. 

Union,  the  Federal,  formation  of,  81. 

Union  County,  taken  from  Northumber- 
land, 309. 

United  States,  convention  to  frame  Con- 
stitution of  the,  249,  265;  peace  be- 
tween, and  treaty  with  Great  Britain, 
264 ;  treaty  between  England  and,  317. 

University,  of  Pennsylvania,  incorpo- 
rated. 227. 

Unrest,  The,  first  vessel  ever  built  in 
America,  19. 

Upland,  court  established  at,  57 ;  meet- 
ings of  Friends  at ;  district,  list  of  tax- 
ables  of,  59  ;  Markham  and  Baltimore 
hold  conference  at;  heart  of  colony, 
66  ;  last  court  at,  under  Duke  of  York ; 
first  court  held  under  Markham  at,  67  ; 
Penn's  location  for  a  city  ;  now  Ches- 
ter; Markham  discards  location  of,  for 
a  city,  68. 

Usselincx,  William,  originator  of  Dutch 
Company ;  lead  expedition,  29. 

Utah,  territory,  472. 

Valley,  of  Swans,  24. 

Valley  Forge,  Washington  in  winter- 
quarters  at,  203  ;  sufferings  of  the  army 
at,  206,  281. 

Varnum,  General,  brigade  of,  occupies 
Fort  Mercer,  205. 

Vanderbilt,  Mary  W.,  marries  Wm. 
F.  Packer ;  Peter  W.,  435. 

Van  Buren,  President,  appoints  Wolf 
Collector  of  Philadelphia,  360;  calls 
extra  session  of  Congress  for  financial 
relief,  405  ;  nominated,  442. 

Van  Dyck,  Greran,  Scnout-Fiscal  over 
Swedes  and  Finns,  44;  successor  to, 
suggests  about  Swedes ;  seeks  advice  of 
Stuyvesant,  45. 

Van  Hulst,  William  succeeds  Mey,  22. 

Van  Ilperdam,  Jan  Jansen,  sent  to  dis- 


possess English  intruders,  32 ;  vice  di- 
rector ;  re-called,  33. 

Van  Sweringen,  farm  of,  seized  by  Cap- 
tain John  Carr,  52. 

Van  Tienhoven,  Secretary  of  Bicker;  de- 
tained by  Rysingh,  37. 

Van  Twiller,  Wouter ;  succeeds  Minuit, 
27  ;  reference  to,  30. 

Venango,  Fort  at,  109 ;  troops  move  from, 
to  Fort  Du  Quesne,  153 ;  troops  from, 
routed  at  Niagara,  163 ;  captured  by 
Indians,  167. 

Versailles,  British  embassador  at,  com- 
plains of  the  French  encroaching  upon 
the  English  Colonies  in  America,  148. 

Van  Rensselaer,  General,  defeated  at 
Queenstown  Heights,  314. 

Virginia,  State  of,  claim  territory  on  Del- 
aware, 50 ;  Governor  Keith  visits  Gov- 
ernor of,  128 ;  Keith  publishes  history 
of,  131 ;  soldiers  from  Pennsylvania 
sail  to  Capes  of,  143 ;  in  council  with 
Indians,  147 ;  Governor  of,  sends  Wash- 
ington to  confer  with  the  French,  149 ; 
Governor  of,  invited  to  conference  with 
Indians  at  Easton,  162 ;  militia  of, 
march  to  Fort  Du  Quesne,  163 ;  action 
of  Assembly  of,  on  taxing  the  Colonies, 
173 ;  Governor  of,  claims  portion  of 
Pennsylvania ;  government  of,  remon- 
strated with  by  Governor  Penn,  182 ; 
Assembly  of,  recommends  independ- 
ence, 186 ;  militia  of,  called  out  to  quell 
Whiskey  Insurrection,  287. 

Wade,  Edward,  Robert,  and  John,  arrive, 
59. 

Walloons,  forty  families  of,  dispatched  to 
America,  21. 

Walrus,  the  ship,  arrives  in  the  Delaware, 
23. 

War,  Board  of,  appointed ;  applies  for 
money  for  defence,  200. 

Washington,  George,  is  sent  by  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia  to  confer  with  French 
commander  at  Fort  Le  Bceuf ;  ascends 
the  Alleghany  River  and  French 

»  creek,  and  reaches  Fort  Le  Boauf; 
meets  French  commandant  and  ac- 
complishes mission,  149 ;  confers  with 
French  commandant ;  remonstrates 
with  St.  Pierre,  the  commandant,  150  ; 
journal  and  report  published ;  takes 
lead  in  recruiting ;  routs  French  under 
Jumonville,  153  ;  attacked  in  Fort  Ne- 
cessity and  obliged  to  yield ;  marches 
out  with  honors  of  war ;  at  Braddock's 
defeat,  157 ;  appointed  Commander-in- 
Chief,  185;  first  unfurls  Union  flag; 
194 ;  organizes  army ;  fortifies  Dor- 
chester Heights ;  sends  General  Lee  to 
New  York,  195 ;  retreat  of,  to  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  pursued  by  Cornwallis,  196 ; 


556 


INDEX. 


invested  with  dictatorial  powers ;  sends 
Putnam  to  Philadelphia,  197 ;  resumes 
the  offensive;  captures  Hessians  at 
Trenton ;  moves  army  into  New  Jer- 
sey; triumphs  of,  subject  of  eulogy  in 
European  courts,  198 ;  sends  letter  to 
Congress,  200;  fights  battle  of  Brandy- 
wine,  202 ;  confronts  Howe ;  withdraws 
towards  Reading;  attacks  enemy  at 
Germantown ;  retires  to  White  Marsh ; 
goes-  into  winter-quarters  at  Valley 
Forge,  203 ;  garrisons  forts  on  the  Del- 
aware, 205 ;  gets  intelligence  of  Howe's 
designs  from  Lydia  Darrah,  206 ;  de- 
feats enemy  at  Monmouth,  207 ;  inti- 
macy with  Reed ;  in  Continental 
Congress,  217 ;  coolness  to  Heed ; 
reconciliation  with  Heed,  220 ;  recom- 
mends Reed  for  leader  of  cavalry; 
letters  of  to  Reed,  221,  222,  227  ;  offers 
bounty  to  soldiers ;  appeals  to  Morris 
for  money ;  letter  of  Morris  to,  232 ; 
places  Mifflin  at  head  of  his  military 
family;  his  habits  described  by  Irving, 
275;  issues  general  order;  wife  of,  ar- 
rives at  headquarters,  276 ;  withdrawal 
of,  from  Long  Island,  277,  278,  279; 
sends  despatches  t»  Congress  with  Mif- 
flin, 279 ;  Fabian  policy  of,  stigmatized, 
282 ;  cabal  against,  283 ;  unfortunate 
battles,  284;  resignation  of,  284,  285; 
as  President  calls  out  militia  to  quell 
Whiskey  Insurrection,  287 ;  business 
habits  o'f,  359. 

Washington,  city  of,  site  of,  included  in 
Penn's  charter,  66 ;  captured  by  Brit- 
ish, 315. 

Washington  County,  Ritner  removes  to, 
361,  362. 

Waterford,  town  of,  Erie  County ;  site 
of  Fort  Le  Bceuf,  149. 

Watson,  J.  F.,  annals  of,  quoted,  127, 131. 

Wayne,  General  Anthony,  hangs  upon 
rear  of  British  army ;  attacked  at  Pa- 
oli,  and  men  massacred,  203 ;  soldiers 
under,  revolt,  227 ;  spies  sent  to,  by 
revolters,  228. 

Wedderburn,  solicitor  -  general  of  the 
Crown  ;  assails  Franklin,  2C3. 

Weiser,  Conrad,  sent  to  gain  favor  of  the 
Indians,  147  ;  sent  to  remove  intruders 
on  Indian  lauds;  Indian  interpreter, 
148. 

Welcome,  the  ship,  Penn  takes  passage 
in,  82. 

Wesel,  city  of,  22. 

West,  Benjamin,  his  picture  of  the 
"  Great  Treaty,"  83. 

Westcott,  Thompson,  History  of  Phila- 
delphia, quoted,  212,  214. 

.Westminster  Review,  quoted,  92. 

Westminster  Abbey,  monument  in,  to 
Ge/.era)  Wolfe,  164. 


Westmoreland  County,  Ritner  removes 
to,  361 ;  Governor  Johnston  born  in. 
403 ;  Governor  Geary  born  in,  and 
returns  to,  466,  469. 

\\\'>t|ihalia,  kingdom  of,  22. 

West  Indies,  work  on,  22. 

West  India  Company,  in  contemplation  ; 
Dutch  incorporated ;  subscription  to 
stock  open  to  all  nations,  20 ;  powers 
enlarged,  22 ;  privileges  to  patroons 
granted  by,  23  ;  policy  of,  27  ;  Swedish 
incorporated,  29 ;  order  Stuyvesant  to 
drive  Swedes  from  the  Delaware,  40  ; 
report  of  Stuyvesant  to,  46  ;  jurisdic- 
tion of,  48  ;  Swedish,  remonstrate  with 
the  Dutch  Company,  49. 

Wharton,  Walter,  appointed  surveyor, 
57. 

Wharton,  Jr.,  Thomas,  elected  President 
of  Council  of  Safety,  11)4  ;  elected  Presi- 
dent Supreme  Executive  Council ;  title 
of,  199;  death  of;  birth  of;  marriage 
of;  a  merchant,  208;  hi?  attachment,  to 
constitution ;  letter  of,  to  Arthur  St. 
Clair,  209;  funeral  of;  buried  at  Lan- 
caster, 210. 

Wharton,  Richard,  emigrates  to  Pennsyl- 
vania; ancestor  of  President  Wharton, 
208. 

Wharton,  John,  father  of  President 
Wharton,  208. 

Wharton,  G.  M.,  grandson  of  President 
Wharton,  209. 

Whig,  party,  formation  of;  opposes  Pro- 
prietarv  Government;  espouses  cause 
of  tire  Revolution,  334. 

Whiskey  Insurrection,  account  of,  287. 

White,  Margaret,  mother  of  Governor 
Geary,  466. 

Whiteneld,  George,  preaching  of,  creates 
excitement;  erects  church  in  Philadel- 
phia, 143. 

Whitman,  'Elizabeth,  marries  Joseph 
Hiester,  334. 

Whitman,  Adam,  334. 

Whitehall,  Penn's  visits  to,  109. 

Whittier,  John  G.,  the  Quaker  poet;  ode 
of,  368. 

White  Plains,  Washington  driven  from, 
196. 

White  Marsh,  Washington  retires  to, 
203 ;  camp  at,  206. 

Wichetunk,  Indians  at,  removed  to  Phi- 
ladelphia, 169. 

Wilcox,  Joseph,  draws  up  address  to  the 
Proprietor ;  abuses  Governor  and  Pro- 
prietor, 119. 

William  and  Mary,  accession  of,  92, 109  ; 
commission  Governor  Fletcher  to  as- 
sume jurisdiction  of  Pennsylvania  and 
territories ;  restore  government  to  Penn. 
94 ;  commission  Fletcher  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  110. 


INDEX. 


557 


Williamsport,  434,  435,  440,  448. 

Willing,  Thomas,  presides  at  meetings, 
182 ;  delegate  to  Congress,  183 ;  votes 
against  Declaration ;  omitted  from  new 
delegation,  187. 

Willing,  Richard,  and  Eliza,  233. 

Wilson,  James,  delegate  to  Congress, 
183;  votes  for  Declaration,  187. 

Wilson,  Alexander,  chief  clerk  State 
Treasury ;  receives  uncurreut  money, 
328. 

Wilson,  Fleming,  424. 

Wilson,  Catharine,  marries  Curtin,  465. 

Wilson,  William  J.,  465. 

Wilmot,  David,  nominated  for  Governor ; 
author  of  Proviso,  442. 

Winchester,  General,  surrenders  at 
Frenchtown,  314. 

Windsor  Castle,  Penn  to  deliver  two 
beaver-skins  annually  at,  61. 

Winthrop,  Governor,  goes  with  Nicholls 
to  Manhattan,  51. 

Wirt,  William,  Life  of  Patrick  Henry, 
quoted,  242. 

Wolf,  George,  birth ;  ancestry ;  educa- 
tion ;  has  charge  of  his  father's  farm  ; 
principal  of  an  academy ;  clerk  ;  stud- 
ies law ;  sides  with  Jefferson ;  advo- 
cates McKean's  election ;  postmaster 
at  Easton  ;  clerk  of  court ;  elected  to 
the  House ;  defeated  for  the  Senate, 
350 ;  elected  to  Congress ;  friend  of 


American  industry ;  elected  Governor ; 
estimate  of  his  character,  351 ;  recom- 
mends the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
public  works,  353 ;  his  advocacy  of 
common  schools,  353,  357,  361 ;  first  to 
establish  Executive  Chamber  in  the 
Capitol,  358  ;  gives  personal  attention 
to  details  of  business;  criticised  and, 
defended,  359 ;  adherent  of  Jackson ; 
defeated  for  third  term  ;  appointed  by 
Jackson  first  comptroller  of  the  treas- 
ury ;  appointed  by  Van  Buren  col- 
lector or  the  port  of  Philadelphia; 
death  of,  360 ;  meeting  with  Thad'leus 
Stevens,  365 ;  tribute  to,  368. 

Wolf,  General,  under  Abercrombie,  162 ; 
moves  for  reduction  of  Quebec;  death 
of;  monument  to,  in  Westminster  Ab- 
bey, voted  by  Parliament,  164. 

Worminghurst,  Penn's  house  at,  82. 

Wyalusing,  an  Indian  village,  178. 

Wyoming  controversy,  176,  177,  229. 

Yates,  Jasper,  judge  of  supreme  court; 

impeached,  326. 
York,  Congress  meets  at,  204;    Simon 

Suyder  removes  to,  308. 
York  County,  Franklin  procures  wagons 

and  horses  in,  for  Braddock,  156. 

Zuyt,  Dutch  name  for  Delaware  River, 

18. 


THE  END. 


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